How to Convince a Dragon Queen
by Quartzling
Summary: Three Vikings are kidnapped, Queen's orders. A monster is hidden on Dragon island, bent on becoming the next Alpha. And Vikings and dragons are on the brink of a war that will cause their destruction, neither dragon nor human knows, but the one who will make it happen. Only the haphazardeous bond between a skinny boy and a one of a kind dragon can stop this looming war.
1. One: The Raid

**This is my first fanfic! I'm super excited. So ya, I don't own the How to Train Your Dragon Franchise. Okay let me explain a few things. Some dragons can understand humans, but humans can't fully understand them. All dragon speech will be bold, except for the authors note thingie of course. I will try to update as much as possible but I'm working on my own book over on fictionpress so right now that's my to priority. So I hope you enjoy!**

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Dragons and humans had been locked in battle for generations. The war had lasted so long no one even knew why or when it began; it simply just became the way of life. Dragons would attack the Vikings to try to drive them off their land, and in return the Vikings would fight back, and so was the endless cycle.

The Nightfury stood on the cliff just out of sight of the village below, but just close enough to see into the tiny settlement. Tonight there would be a dragon raid; he would have another chance to prove himself.

He was an outcast, the only of his kind, and they shunned him for that. The dragons were uncomfortable around a dragon species they barely knew, he was simply too unusual, not at all like them. There was no question, he was very different. First off he was a night dragon, the only one they knew about. Sure the clan attacked at night, but none of them actually lived in the night. They just picked that time because the humans were must vulnerable with their poor night sight. Second, he could see in absolute darkness, and that creeped them out. He often heard dragons whispering about whether the Nightfury had been touched Loki himself. In fact they hadn't even bothered in really giving him a name, the first time he had appeared on a raid a human had screamed Nightfury, and the dragons had called him the Nightfury ever since.

The clan was huddle around their alpha Flare, she had a long slender neck, body, and tail, but what made her stand out were her wings. They could slice full grown trees in an instant, there were others with her skill, but none surpassed her. The humans referred to her as a Timberjack, dragons didn't bother to sort their kind by their skills and appearance, but they couldn't help but pick up the names from the humans. Since they had never created a system for dragon classification they just used the Vikings.

 **"Attack,"** Flare roared and the mass of dragons spilled over the cliff, descending into the village below. Human screams rose from the town as houses went up if flames. He sniffed, when would the humans learn to stop rebuilding their houses out of wood, they were basically inviting the dragons to burn them down.

The Nightfury swooped in his wings spread, fire building up in his throat, ready to fire. The goal today was to capture human hatchlings, last week three dragons had gone missing, Meatlug a Gronkle, Stormfly a Deadly Nadder, and Hookfang a Monstrous Nightmare. One of the dragons had discovered that they had been imprisoned by the humans, and today they wanted revenge. They were to collect exactly three human hatchlings, no more, and no less.

The Nightfury spotted a stout boy, wearing a helmet with curled horns; he held a hammer above his head preparing to smash Nata, a Changewing in the chest. Tucking his wings, the Nightfury prepared to dive into Berk and snatch up the boy, that human hatchling would be perfect, strong and capable. If he could wrangle that one perhaps the dragons would finally pay some respect to him.

When he got close enough to the ground he spread his wings, and grabbed the human by its shoulders and started to fly back toward the island camp. Screams resonated from the Vikings, "A Nightfury a Nightfury," they yelled showing no immediate concern for the boy in the dragon's claws. Suddenly a bola wrapped itself around the Nightfury, the creature of the night desperately tried to escape, shooting fire randomly as it plummeted to the hard forest floor below.

* * *

Hiccup opened his eyes and quickly shut them. _Where was he?_ Carefully he reopened his eyes, and screamed in terror. He stood up and backed away till he reached a stone wall and could move no further. Next to him lay a black dragon wrapped in a bola, it opened one green eye, and growled at him as if annoyed. Hiccup quickly pulled out his dagger and held it out, blade pointed toward the dragon, a queer sense of relief passed through him; if he could kill this beast then his father would finally notice him.

The dragon snarled and a weak blue flame dribbled from its mouth, Hiccup jumped back, excitement blossoming on his face. _Blue Fire, this was a Nightfury; no one had ever seen a Nightfury much less killed one!_

* * *

The Nightfury woke up to find a short scrawny boy backed up against the stone wall of the cove that enclosed them, _this wasn't the boy he'd had in mind, where did this pipsqueak come from. That human would impress no one,_ he growled in annoyance. The boy pulled out a knife and pointed it at the dragon; he started to snarl, those stupid Vikings, as if rope and metal rings could keep a dragon trapped. He tried to build up a flame but all that came was a little blue fire, the Nightfury huffed, he would have to do this the hard way, he'd most likely reached his shot limit.

When the boy held up the knife to make the killing strike, the dragon ripped apart the rope and sprang up. Pain radiated from his tail but he ignored it, first he had to get this boy back to the nest, the alpha queen had trusted him and two others to gather the hatchlings and he couldn't disappoint her.

* * *

Here Hiccup was pinned under a Nightfury, not exactly the best place to be. He knew he was going to die, and he accepted it, the village probably wouldn't even notice. He saw the blue flames collecting in the beast's mouth and he closed his eyes tightly. Hiccup had no intention of seeing himself barbequed. When the heat and burning pain didn't come, he opened his eyes and found the creature's flame had disappeared and its mouth had closed.

* * *

The Nightfury roared and reared back landed on the ground with a crash and raced forward, pinning the boy to the ground. He cooked up fire in his mouth as a warning, the boy shut his eyes, and the dragon swallowed his fire. He had never planned on burning the boy; he'd only wanted to warn him.

Then the dragon carefully removed itself and grabbed the boy by its shoulders, time to go home. When he tried to fly up, he realized something was very wrong, and he crashed into the ground. The Nightfury lifted his wings to inspect them and found they were in perfectly fine; the he turned around and caught sight of his tail. One of his tail fins had been ripped clean off…


	2. Chapter Two: Grounded

The Nightfury snuffed and opened an eye, there the boy was curled in a ball, sleeping. Last night he had made it very clear to the human that if he was to attempt to escape it would mean certain death. Of course he hadn't been serious, but he couldn't risk losing the hatchling, not after all the trouble he'd gone through. His already unhappy mood dimmed even further as he realized that even if he kept the boy, there would be no way to deliver him, he had lost a tail fin which would forever keep him grounded. He continued to stare at the hatchling, curled up on the ground, he looked so lonely and cold. The Nightfury almost felt guilt for taking the boy.

* * *

Hiccup woke up to find that he was still in the cove, he considered trying to escape, but he valued all his limbs. The dragon had lost a tail fin, and oddly enough Hiccup almost felt sorry for the Nightfury. _But why had the thing not killed him, he'd been fully at the beasts mercy? Gobber and everyone else had always said dragon would always go for the kill, but why hadn't this one? Why hadn't the unholy offspring of lightning and death itself, not gone after the kill? If it had been a Terrible Terror or perhaps even a Gronkle it would make more sense, but still not make any sense at all. But why had the most feared dragon not killed him when it had the chance? Something didn't add up._

He pulled himself off the ground and found the dragon looking at him, he did a double take. _Was that guilt in a dragon's eyes, in the eyes of a creature he had been taught was a heartless killing machine? Could it be?_ When the Nightfury noticed him staring, it snarled and half glided toward the other side of the cove, crossing the small pond in the center. The dragon spun around lighting a ring of fire around itself and settled down to rest with a grunt, tucked in its wings and wrapped its tail around its head to shield its eyes.

Hiccup watched the dragon in its slumber, his curiosity tugging him toward the beast. _It was a Nightfury, here was a living, breathing Nightfury and he had to know more, but on the other hand this was a living, FIRE breathing Nightfury, that also had the tendency to kill anything that got near it, or at least that was what the book of dragons said._ The boy sighed, his life preserving instinct won, he'd stay as far as possible from that beast or as far as one could stay, trapped in a cove. After all he had far more important things to do, such as figuring out how to find food.

* * *

After a few minutes into its nap the dragon detected movement, he unfurled his wings and straightened its tail, and checked to make sure the human was still there, he found it kneeling by the pond. The Nightfury huffed and slowly got up, _better make sure the human wouldn't fall in._ When he got closer he noticed the boy wasn't wearing a shirt, and then he saw the thing in its hands. The human had knotted together some short of net and was trying to catch something. The dragon settled down, _now this would be fun to watch._

* * *

Hiccup was frustrated big time; his hands were sore and riddled with wounds from trying to cut his shirt with a dragon scale. It had worked perfectly, slicing the fabric with ease, but had also sliced the skin of his palm just as well.

He waited by the edge of the small lake, carefully keeping his shadow off the surface of the water. Finally a group of fish swum near him and he quickly sprang up and pulled the tiny net through the water, trying his best to capture the fish. His hands stung as the water touched his open wounds, finally he pulled the net out to find two medium sized fish. Hiccup whooped with joy until he turned to find the Nightfury staring at him with a bemused look on its face. He instantly froze, and the dragon growled and stalked away.

* * *

The Nightfury scolded itself; he needed the human hatchling to be scared of him, so it wouldn't dare try escape, at this rate the boy would just get up and walk out, and he knew he wouldn't be able to kill it. He just never had the heart, unlike the rest of the clan.

He heard a curse and his ears perked up, his head turned to find the boy hunched over, rubbing together two sticks over a ring of rocks filled with wood. The dragon cocked its head, he'd observed humans doing that and normally a flame erupted from the ring of rocks, but for some reason nothing happened. He grumbled, _humans seemed to need the fire to live and he supposed that if the hatchling died it would be bad for both of him._ The Nightfury pulled back its head and shot a fireball precisely into the ring of stones making sure not to hit the boy. The human flew backwards in panic, but when it realized what just happened, it turned toward the dragon a mixture of bewilderment and amazement on its face.

* * *

Hiccup huffed in annoyance, he'd thought catching the fish would be the hard part, but he had been very wrong. There wasn't a piece of dry wood in the entire cove; it must have rained yesterday, before he'd been captured. The boy faltered, his grip on the sticks loosened as his thoughts wandered off. Suddenly blue fire was barreling toward him; he flung himself backwards, scrambling to escape the flame. When no second fireball was shot he turned to see his fire pit burning brightly, then he stood up and walked toward the fire mesmerized. When he was sure it was real, he turned to the dragon, had that beast just helped him build a fire?

He shook his head, _the dragon had probably sneezed or something._ Then he picked up the two fish that lay on a flat rock and skewered them both with a stick and held them over the fire, _might as well use it._

* * *

 _What was that human doing? Why was it burning that perfectly fine fish?_ For a second he considered stealing one of those tasty looking fish before it was ruined, but decided against it. Dragons hated the mere idea of being dependent on humans, in fact all those animals they stole from the humans? They just dumped them into a fire pit, who were they kidding they didn't need that food; they just stole it so the Viking wouldn't have it. Now that he thought of that, it sounded pretty cruel, just dumping all their food in a lava pit, but dragons had a lot of pride, so eating stolen food was not about to become one of their habits.


	3. Chapter Three: Forbidden

**Hey guys! This is a retelling of one of my most favorite scenes in the first How To Train Your Dragon Movie! Also, if you didn't already see, I updated my profile and now I have links to my book White As Snow and to my book blog. Enjoy!**

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The Dragon stood over the pond watching the fish as they swam by, it was as if they were taunting him. He didn't know how to catch fish without flying; it had never occurred to him that one day he wouldn't be able to. A cloud of gloom settled down around him, he still hadn't fully accepted that he lost his flight. Even three days later he kept on finding more and more things he would never do again. He had kept the boy here, even though it was quickly becoming more and more apparent that he would have no way to bring it back to the island, and that no one was coming for him, and that hurt a lot.

The Nightfury sighed and promised himself, _one more try and if he couldn't get a fish he would steal it from the human_ , the last thought made him feel a little guilty, but he ignored it, He hadn't eaten in three day it was now or never. A fish leapt out of the water, and the Nightfury quickly stuck his head in, reaching for it. The quick movement caused a weird zipping sound, yet another thing that set him apart.

* * *

The boy watched from the ledge, he'd taken to sleeping on, it didn't bother the Nightfury because it could easily see Hiccup, but ultimately made him feel safer. Now he finally had time to better observe this rare creature, he quickly noted the whooshing sound it made as it dived into the water. That was something he had never heard another dragon do, this one was unique. _How would he ever remember all this to add to the book of dragons when he got back to Berk? Correction, if he got back to Berk._

When the Nightfury's head resurfaced empty for umpteenth time, Hiccup stared guilty at the small pile of fish beside him, he'd caught earlier in the morning so he could avoid the beast. The dragon had helped him light a fire, without it he would be just as hungry as it was now, and beside he could get closer to better observe it. He sighed; his conscience was getting the better of him again. Any other Viking would have killed the Nightfury long time ago, or at best waited for it to starve, but Hiccup was well, Hiccup. He plucked a fish from the pile and stood up, slowly he made his way down the rock wall, carrying the fish in one hand and using the other to grasp on to cracks and small ledges. His feet clung onto the footholds he had found, those large boots sure made climbing difficult.

* * *

Two fish swam in the water just out of his reach, he tried his best to reach them but they were out of his range, he re-emerged defeated, he walked back toward his last fire nest and lay down. Suddenly, he heard the tumbling of rocks, his ears perked up and he lifted his head, the boy was climbing down from its ledge with a fish. The dragon's stomach growled, and he lay his head back down and closed his eyes, looking at the fish only made him hungrier. His ears followed the sounds of footsteps, turning back and forth, till they stopped.

Hiccup paused about five feet away from the sleeping Nightfury, he watched as the ears swiveled back and forth searching for movement. The dragon lifted its head and gazed at him with its large green eyes. Very carefully he moved a bit closer and held out the fish, his arm shaking. The beast considered the fish and leaned in slightly as if it was going to accept it, but then as if remembering something it whipped backwards and growled. Hiccup stared at it puzzled, then realization dawned on his face, _it must have guessed that he was carrying a weapon_. After dropping the dagger in their first encounter he had found it again yesterday, he reached into his fur vest; his shirt was gone but he had kept the vest for warmth. The dragon growled. Before he could second guess himself he pulled the dagger from his pocket and dropped it on the ground, and kicked it into the pond with his foot, he hoped he wouldn't regret this later.

* * *

The Nightfury stared at the fish in the boy's hand, _why had he brought it here?_ He moved forward a little deciding whether or not to snatch the fish, when he remembered it had a knife. He quickly sprang back and growled. The boy, after some thought reached into his vest, the dragon was instantly on alert, he roared softly in warning. The human froze then before the Dragon could react, pulled out the dagger, dropped it on the ground and kicked it into the lake. The Nightfury relaxed and looked at the boy, his eyes wide, ears raised.

The boy held out the fish again and the dragon lowered himself to the ground and carefully approached the fish as if stalking prey, he retracted his teeth as to not scare the hatchling, and open his mouth. "Huh. Toothless. I could've sworn you had..." The Nightfury unsheathed his teeth to snatch the fish and gulped it down, and licked his lips. "... teeth."

He looked up, _the boy must be hungry too, he should try some fresh fish perhaps he'd learn to like it, and to stop burning it._ The Dragons retracted his teeth, for some reason the human was scared of his them. He slowly walked forward and the boy begin to back away until he was pressed up against a rock. "Uh, no. No, I don't have any more," The boy said, _stupid human… he didn't want more fish._

The Nightfury's eyes narrowed and its throat started to convulse. He regurgitated half of the fish into the humans lap then sat back on his haunches waiting. The human stared at him with a shocked expression, looked up and back down, then slowly it lifted the fish to its mouth and took a bite. It smiled weakly, made a weird mhhing sound, and held the fish up to him.

 _He knew better, the human hadn't swallowed it._ The Dragon swallowed, gesturing for it to do the same, and the human lowered the fish, and finally it swallowed. The boy half smiled, and the dragon mimicked it, the humans smile grew into a full one and it began to stand up. It reached a hand toward the Nightfury, and it growled and sped away.

He flapped off and crashed on the other side of the cove, made a fire nest and settled down, a bird chirped and captured his attention, he lifted his head to examine the creature. The bird took off and he followed it with his eyes, mesmerized by its flight, when he turned his head he caught sight of the boy sitting very close to him. The Nightfury narrowed its eyes and grumbled in annoyance, and lifted it wings and tucked them in and wrapped it tail around itself. He listened as the boy scooted closer and closer, he lifted his wing and found the boy reaching for his tail, the dragon snorted and the boy took the hint and left.


	4. Chapter Four: Letting Go

**Big thanks to anyone who favorited, liked, or followed this story. Also reviews are very much appreciated, constructive criticism is welcome! I will try to post as often as possible, but with school starting again soon I'll have less time to write. Also thank you to Happypup1 and Dragonguest for reviewing.**

 **Reply to Dragon Guest: Oops, I've fixed it, my mistake. Also Mandarin is my second languge. : P**

 **Enjoy!**

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Hiccup walked back across the cove and sat down on a log, then he picked up a stick and started to sketch the Nightfury's face. _The beast was unlike any dragon in the book, unlike any he'd ever seen. Most unusual were the two long ears that stuck out from the dragon's head, and adding to that were the six flaps surrounding its face. Two on the top of its head and two on each side of the Nightfury's face, and that wasn't even taking in to account the fact that it had retractable teeth, toothless…_

* * *

Meanwhile the Nightfury was hanging from a tree upside down, its tail wrapped around a branch. It heard the scratching of dirt against a stick and peeked out from under its wing, there the boy was on the other side of the cove moving a stick across the ground. His ears perked up and he leapt to the ground landing on all fours and scurried over to see what the human was doing.

There he saw an outline that look suspiciously like his reflection, he purred his approval and continued to watch the boy run the stick through the dirt. Eyes appeared, and he cocked his head. _It was definitely him, and the boy wasn't doing a half bad job._ The Dragon got up on its hind legs, _if the boy could do whatever that was, maybe he should give it a try, it looked like fun._ He walked over to the lakes edge and found a sapling, grasps the trunk with his teeth and tugged it out of the ground. He pulled the tree over and used the end to create lines in the dirt, trying his best to create a resemblance to the Viking hatchling. He lifted the stick into the air turned to look at the human, and added his final touch, then he dropped the stick and tilted his head to observe his masterpiece.

The boy looked around, then steped forward on to a line in the dirt. The dragon narrowed its eyes and snarled. When the boy lifted his foot off, he purred, showing his approval. The boy placed his foot back down on the line, and Nightfury growled, but when the human stepped over the line he smiled.

The boy spun around trying its best to avoid the lines as he walked out of the tangle of scratches in the ground. Unknowingly, his back was less than half a foot away from the dragon. He snuffed blowing the human's hair, and the boy froze and turned around. The dragon lowered his head and lifted his ears and purred. The boy backed away then very slowly, the after some hesitation, stretched his arm toward the Nightfury, as far as it would go. The dragon snuffed, turned his head away and growled. When the boy pulled its arm away, he relaxed.

He watched as the boy closed its eyes and turned its head away, then very slowly it stretched its arm out again. Its hand paused inches from the dragon's face, and his eyes widened, then very slowly he inched forward, hesitated and placed his nose in the humans hand. The boy opened its eyes and looked up. The Nightfury snorted and slipped away.

* * *

The next morning, he had made his choice; he would let the boy go. After what happened last night, he had realized that this one wasn't like the others, this on wasn't a killer. This human was just like him, and he had to face it, he would never fly again, he would never go home. When the boy woke the dragon walked over, and sat down under the ledge. The human stood up and smiled, then leaned over, picked up a fish and tossed it at the dragon. "Good morning," it hesitated. "Toothless" The just rechristened Toothless smiled, _he liked having a name._ He bent down and picked the fish up with his teeth, flung back his head and swallowed the fish whole. The boy started to climb down from the ledge and Toothless realized he didn't know the human's name. **"What's your name?"** He asked even though he knew the Viking couldn't understand him.

* * *

Hiccup started his way down from his sleeping spot, last night had been amazing. He Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III had touched a Nightfury! Toothless growled as if asking a question, and his face scrunched up, he could tell that the dragon was asking a question but he couldn't quite understand it. When Toothless noticed his puzzlement, and repeated the question and this time even though he couldn't understand all of it he got the gist. Toothless wanted his name. "My name is Hiccup," he said feeling ridiculous taking to a dragon. "Great name, I know. But it's not the worst. Vikings parents believe a hideous name will frighten off gnomes and trolls. Like our charming Viking demeanor wouldn't do that." The dragon let out a sound that resembled a laugh. Hiccup smiled, _had Toothless understood him?_

* * *

Toothless smiled, turns out this Hiccup had a sense of humor. His smile faltered, as he remembered what he came here for, _he would do as he said, he would let the boy go,_ he walked over behind the boy and started to push him toward the cove exit. The human turned to look at him, confused. When they were right below the exit, the dragon backed away, instead of leaving Hiccup turned around to face him. Toothless smiled sadly and gestured with his head for the boy to leave. The boy continued to stare at him, still not believing what was happening. Finally he reached out and rubbed the dragons head, "Goodbye Toothless." He said. Toothless crooned goodbye and finally the human turned and climbed its way up the rocks, it turned around right before exiting the cove, smiled one last time, and disappeared from view.

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 **Cheesy, I know, but hey this is my version of Hiccup setting Toothless free, its only the other way around. Don't worry this isn't the end. On to Berk!**


	5. Chapter Five: Berk

**Hi Guys! Sorry this one is late and so short, as usual thanks to anyone who followed favorite or reviewed. Every single one matters a lot to me! Enjoy!**

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Hiccup walked back into Berk not sure what to expect, he had been gone for four days, and what about Toothless… Suddenly before he could prepare, he was scooped up into a tight hug. "Hiccup, you're alive," his father, exclaimed. "Good to see you too," Hiccup replied, slightly muffled. Vikings began to notice and a crowd formed around them. "His's alive, Hiccup's returned," they cheered. Hiccup was puzzled, _since when did the Vikings get excited for his return._ "Congrats chief," someone shouted. Yep his father was the chief, most people would love to have a chief as a father, but not Hiccup…

* * *

When his father finally put him down, he relaxed and turned around to face the people, they started to mob him, asking how he survived and whether he'd killed the Nightfury. The last one made him wince and he wondered how to answer the questions so it didn't seem too suspicious. After some thought he decided on a reply, "The Nightfury picked me up, I could bare;y see it but I hit it so hard that it dropped me in the forest and I had to spend the last four days trying to survive and get back to Berk." He held his breath, _would they remember that they had trapped the beast with the bola launcher he had built, because then they would know the dragon was out there, wounded._ The Vikings all nodded and gave him hearty smiles, and pats on the back. Hiccup let out his breath, _they'd believed him._

"Now I think its bout time this one started dragon fighting." Hiccup turned around. "Gobber," He cried and ran over. Stoick looked on, mostly disguised hurt in his eyes. Gobber smiled, and patted his young apprentice on the head. "Come on Hiccup, let's get you rested, and we can get back to work," as they left together the Chief stood there, frozen trying his best to hide his jealousy and pain, his own son had unintentionally picked Gobber over him. Oh Valka, what have I done…

* * *

Gobber dropped him off at his house and bid him a farewell. Hiccup pushed open the door and ran upstairs, he knew that Gobber expected him to be tired after his whole "ordeal" but what he really wanted was to record every last detail of the last few days, he didn't want to forget a thing. He went over to his bed and picked up his notebook and found a charcoal pen, the he flipped to the next empty page and started to sketch Toothless. He drew the head, the body, and then with long strokes replicated the wings. However when he got to the very end of the tail he stopped, one tail fin on the page, the other missing. He felt hatred for himself begin to well up, _he had invented the thing that had ripped off the tail off his only friend, and now he was trapped in that cove unable to fly, his freedom stolen from him. Yes the dragon had tried to kidnap him, but he had let Hiccup go and Hiccup had to return the favor._ Quickly he drew in the other tail fin, his mind already dreaming up a way to fix it.

Out of the blue he remembered what Gobber had said, I think its bout time this one started dragon fighting. Before he would have been whooping with joy, but his heart dropped at the thought of fighting dragons, and he knew he couldn't do it. Maybe he could say that dragon had terrified him so much that he never wanted to see another one again. Sure he would look like a coward, but that was a sacrifice he was willing to make, to make sure he would never have the blood of a dragon on his hands. Or maybe he could just leave…

Hiccup dropped his notebook and pen on his bed and ran back downstairs, he needed to go to his workroom in the forge, and there he could plan the tail, and his possible escape.

* * *

Stoick walked into the house minutes after Hiccup had bolted, he walked upstairs and scanned Hiccup's room, empty. Then he spotted the notebook open on the bed, his brow furrowed, _that hadn't been open before,_ he picked it up and saw the drawing his brow furrowed further. Why was his boy drawing a dragon they had never seen, _if this was the nightfury… How would Hiccup know, he had claimed to be dropped in the forest? Something wasn't right; perhaps Gobber was correct, his boy was ready to be trained to kill dragons, before he followed in his mother's footsteps._

The chief let out a burdened sigh, _he loved Valka with all his heart, but her opinions had been poisonous, and he had always feared that their son would side with her. If Hiccup was to be chief then he could not share her opinions. His son would start training tomorrow, no questions asked_.

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 **I'm sorry if I made the relationship between Toothless and Hiccup to instant but remember they spent like 3 days stuck in a cove together, and I didn't write about every second of it. Also about Stoick, don't take it the wrong way, he isn't the bad guy. As stated he love Valka very much, it's just he hates dragons a lot. Even more after his wife was taken, and he fears that if Hiccup sympathizes with the beast then he would be taken too. In fact Hiccup being taken by Toothless was already to close for his comfort.**


	6. Chapter Six: Taken

**Hi forgive my long absence I am working on a fanfiction for a contest so this one kind of slipped my mind for a while. Thank you to all my lovely followers and reviewers. Enjoy!**

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Hiccup walked into the forge and made a beeline to the backroom, but Gobber stopped him. "Hiccup." Hiccup turned his head and saw his mentor holding a half finished sword, a terse smile on his face. The boy nodded his hello, and Gobber continued. "Thought you'd be resting," Hiccup shook his head, "I'm fine, now if you'll." He was cut off, "I need to tell you something." Gobber's smile became even more uncomfortable, and now that Hiccup thought about it Gobber had been acting a little off key, in fact the entire village had been a little tense. Earlier he'd just passed it off as the fact that the Viking weren't as excited for his return as they acted, but could something be wrong? "No one told ya cause they were worried that you were too shocked from your er… adventure." Pause, "You weren't the only one taken that night."

Hiccup stumbled backwards in shock, he had never stopped to wonder whether he'd been the only one taken he had just assumed he was the only one. "Who was it?" Gobber cleared his throat, "Fishlegs an Astrid." Hiccup nodded and walked out, he knew this was rude but he was in no mood for conversation and he had to get away.

* * *

The blacksmith stood there watching the receding figure of his apprentice as he disappeared into the woods, Hiccup had changed, something was different. He turned back toward his anvil and started to pound the sword with his hammer prosthesis, and thanked Thor that his apprentice was safe.

* * *

Hiccup ran through the woods, his thoughts surrounding him like smoke, smoke that made it hard to think or see. _Fishlegs was gone. They had been best friends once and even though Fishlegs had started avoiding him a few years ago, he had never teased Hiccup, unlike Snotlout. And Astrid, the only other person who never made fun of him. But why? Why them, and why now?_

He burst into the small cove and Toothless immediately ran up to him. **"You came back!"** Hiccup smiled half heartily and rubbed the dragon's head, "Course I did." The Nightfury's grin faded, **"Something's wrong, what is it."**

Hiccup sighed, and lay down in the grass using the Nightfury as a pillow. "Why did you take me?" Toothless visibly flinched then simply said, **"The Dragon Queen ordered it."** Hiccup sat up, "There's a Dragon Queen?" **"Yes, her name is Flare; your kind calls her a Timberjack."** The boy nodded. "But why now?" he questioned. The dragon sighed, **"Your people imprisoned three of our dragons, a Deadly Nadder, a Monstrous Nightmare and a Gronkle."** "How do you know what we call dragon species?" the boy wondered out loud. **"Well no one knows for sure, but dragon lore says, that long ago before this three hundred year war there was once a woman and a dragon who were friends, and they could understand each other, and ever since then some dragons have be able to understand human words."** Toothless smiled, his teeth retracted, **"the legend also says that only true friends of dragons can understand dragonese, they must decide to protect a dragon from all harm, to be granted that power. "** "That's a neat tale, but why did the kidnappings only start now, the Vikings have been capturing…. dragons, for ages," Hiccup stumbled through the words, becoming more and more uncomfortable.

The dragon let out a purr to convey to the boy that it was okay, **"We only learned about the imprisonment last week, Dragons had been disappearing for decades, but there was no proof it was the Vikings. So when the dragons found out they wanted revenge, and the Queen ordered us to capture three human hatchlings, I'm sure she does not intend to harm them."** The boy nodded again, "the two other people taken are sort of my friends."

Toothless snorted, **"What do you mean by sort of?"** Hiccup threw up his hands, "Fine, you want the truth? You're my only friend. Happy?" **"Yes, I am."** The boy chuckled, "Speaking of friends, why'd you kidnap me in particular? I'm not exactly the best capture." The dragon threw back its head and laughed loudly. "Hey, what's so funny," Hiccup demanded. **"Well, the fact I wasn't even going for you, I was aiming for the Viking hatchling with the curled horns on its head."** Hiccup sighed, "Of course, Snotlout." Toothless licked Hiccup's face, **"I'm glad I picked you, that Snotlout probably wouldn't have made such a nice friend."** "Thanks, but no thanks to the tongue." The dragon let out an offended snort, **"it's getting dark, I'd love to have you stay here forever but, it's about time you got going."**

The boy groaned, "I'd much prefer to stay with you, goodnight bud." The Nightfury nodded. Then Hiccup turned and climbed his way out of the cove and trudged back through the forest.

* * *

Astrid sat in a hole in the ground, it was amazingly symmetrical and smooth for a pit dug by dragons but she suspected Gronkles had something to do with that. She'd been here for four days, or was it five, she had stopped counting long time ago, there was not point. From what Astrid could gather, she and Fishlegs were the only humans that had been kidnapped by the dragons. They had spent an entire day calling out to see if there was anyone else, but came to the conclusion that they were alone, except for the dragons of course. Oddly enough she hadn't been flamed or mauled to death, in fact the dragons had been very kind to her, or as kind as a jail keeper could be. A few times a day they would bring her another raw fish, they didn't seem to understand that she couldn't eat them.

She stared longingly at today's small pile of fish, however Astrid knew that it could kill her, some fish were poisonous if not cooked right. The dragons had also brought her a cracked clay bowl filled to the brim with water each day, where they got the bowl, she had no idea but she was just grateful that she didn't have to go without water too. Her captors never let her get too cold either, in fact every night they light a fire next to her jail. They were not trying to be cruel, but framed against the starry sky she would just see the tips of the flickering flames from her hole in the ground, and it would remind her that if she could just reach it she would be able to eat. About two days or so ago she and Fishlegs had stopped talking, it simply became to exhausting and they needed to reserve their energy.

A dragon screeched, and Astrid didn't even flinch, the first few times she had reached for her missing axe, but now it was a welcome sound in the heavy silence. It also meant, she would either get warmth, water or at worst more useless fish. Well at least the beasts took the fish away every morning, if they hadn't then her prison would have started smelling like rotting fish longtime ago.

* * *

A Hideous Zippleback dropped its load of sticks and landed with a thump next to the edge of the hole. A stick rolled off the edge and into the pit. Barf one of the heads of the two headed dragon, tried to retrieve the stick, but no matter how far it stretched it couldn't quite reach the fallen object. Then before either head could react, Barf and Belch who were both pulling too far in opposite directions snapped back together and their heads collided painfully. Belch just snorted and continued his task of lighting a fire for the human, a single spark light the branches and a small fire started up, then very quickly the brisk wind it blew out.

Barf huffed and grabbed the sticks in his mouth and dropped them into the pit, they had been told if it was too windy for fire they would light it in the hole. The Zippleback inched closer to the edge of the stone pit and Belch leaned down and light the wood on fire, then they flew off again, already quarrelling.

* * *

Astrid was crouched on the other side of the pit, across from the Zippleback head that lit the sparks, as soon as the head which let out the gas had lifted his head from her prison she had made a mad dash for the stick and ran back across the pit to get as far from the beast as possible. Now she held the stick; which she had sharpened on the stone, in front of her like a sword. Even though none of the dragons had harmed her she was still wary. However she knew the stick was useless, if a dragon were to attack her she knew she wouldn't be able to defend herself even if she had her axe, after four days of no food and fitful sleep she was exhausted.

When one of the heads appeared over the edge of the pit and dropped a pile of sticks in the middle of her prison, she plastered her back against the wall; she had nowhere else to go. Were they going to try to burn her alive? With the sticks in the middle of the hole there was about six feet of space surrounding the pile, while that was more than enough space to avoid a potential fire, she still couldn't be sure. What if they were planning on bringing more branches? A second head appeared over the rim of her stone cage and lowered into the pit, then it paused half a foot from the wood pile and sparks spilled from its mouth and lit a fire. Both of the heads disappeared and Astrid relaxed, the she caught sight of the small stack of raw fish and looked at the stick gripped in her hand, and a smile spread across her face.

 **Sorry Gobber may have acted a little out of character, but he was really awkward about telling Hiccup about the others. And if you were wondering why Toothless didn't seem too concerned for Hiccup's sort of friends it's because, he knows the dragons won't harm them, and he doesn't see his own dragon clan as a threat.**


	7. Chapter Seven: First Flight

**Hey guy's this chapter's kind of choppy, lately the stories been fighting me. I'm working out the plot line and I think I've got it! Now that I know where I'm heading I can probably update more often. Constructive criticism and reviews are always welcome! Enjoy!**

* * *

"Hiccup." "Dad. Uh..." Hiccup father stood up, and took a deep sighed, "I, uh... I have to talk to you, Dad." His father replied, "I need to speak with you too, son." They both straightened and blurted out at the same moment. "I've decided I don't want to. I think it's time you learn. fight dragons. to fight dragons." They stared at each other then again at the same time they said in unison, "What?" Stoick nodded, "You go first." Hiccup shook his head, "No, you go first."

His father sighed, "Alright. You get your wish. Dragon training. You start in two days." Hiccup stared at him in shock, "Oh man, I should've gone first. Uh, 'cause I was thinking, you know we have a surplus of dragon-fighting Vikings, but do we have enough bread-making Vikings, or small home repair Vikings?" drat of course his father would decide to let him train to kill dragons the second he decided he didn't want to,Thor must hate him. Stoick completely ignored his son, handed Hiccup an axe and said, "You'll need this." Hiccup tried his best to avoid the weapon but still somehow ended up with it in his arms.

The boy tried again, "I don't want to fight dragons." The father laughed, "Come on. Yes, you do." "Rephrase. Dad I can't kill dragons," Hiccup said desperately. "But you will kill dragons." Stoick insisted. "No, I'm really very extra sure that I won't." "It's time Hiccup." Hiccup's father said still appearing to not have heard a word. "

Can you not hear me?" Hiccup said as he shook his head. Stoick was now slightly annoyed, "This is serious son!" He forced the axe into Hiccup's hands. and it's weight dragged him down him down a little. He looked up to see his father under-lit with firelight. Stoick continued to speak, "When you carry this axe... you carry all of us with you. Which means you walk like us. You talk like us. You think like us. No more of..." He gestured non specifaically at Hiccup, "this..." Hiccup sighed, rather annoyed, "You just gestured to all of me."

Stoick who was of course not listening asked, "Deal?" "This conversation is feeling very one-sided," Hiccup pointed out, not even hoping that his father would listen to him. "DEAL?!" Stoick asked loudly. Hiccup glanced at the axe in his hands. It was a no-win argument. Defeated he winced and muttered, "Deal."

Satisfied, his father grabbed his helmet and duffel bag... and headed for the door. "Good. We're going to take a shot at the nest, train hard. I'll be back. Probably." "And I'll be here." Hiccup paused. "Maybe." Stoick headed out the door, leaving Hiccup holding the axe. He waited a few beats, then slowly pushed the door open and slipped outside.

* * *

Hiccup peeked into the the forge, and sighed, empty. Then he made a mad dash for the backroom, walked inside and sat down, he needed to think. He pulled out his notebook and was thumbing through the pages when he landed on a sketch he had made of Toothless. Hiccup stared at the empty space where a tail fin should have been and suddenly he knew how he was going to rescue Fishlegs and Astrid. Toothless needed a new tail fin, quickly pulling out a charcoal pencil he sketched in a tail fin, designs already shaping in his mind.

* * *

After thousand upon thousand blue prints, he was finally ready to build the tail fin. He was going to fix Toothless's tail, and get his sort of friends back, maybe then they would be his real friends. Finally as the sun rose he held the finished contraption in his arms, now to test it...

* * *

Hiccup walked in to the cove out of breath, carrying a basket filled to the brim with raw fish on his back, the tail fin tucked under one of his arms. "Hey Toothless," he called, then dropped the basket on the ground "I brought breakfast. I hope you're hungry," his voice strained from the weight of his load, he tipped the basket over with his foot and slimy fish spilled out.

"Okay, that's disgusting," Hiccup commented, Toothless ignored his little comment and approached the feast. The boy continued to speak and the dragon smiled and rolled his eyes, did this boy ever shut up? "Uh..we've got some salmon...," Toothless poked his nose into the pile. "... some nice Icelandic cod... and a whole smoked eel."

The nightfury backed away and growled, he hated eels, every dragon hated eels, well most of them anyway. Hiccup leaned down, reached into the pile and picked up the offending animal and lifted it up. Toothless began to snarl and he quickly exclaimed, "No, no, no! It's okay." then flung the eel into the lake, he'd gotten rid of quite a few thing in that specific body of water lately, what was next himself? He smiled weakly, "Sorry bud, I don't like eel much either." **"It's fine,"** Toothless replied grumpily, now that had been a rude awakening, he grunted and began to eat the remaining fish.

* * *

Meanwhile Hiccup was slowly moving toward Toothless's tail, "Okay. That's it. That's it, just stick with good stuff. And don't you mind me. I'll just be back...here. Minding my own business." When he reached the injured tail he crouched down and placed the leather and metal contraption down where the left fin should have been. Toothless's tail shifted to the right and Hiccup moved the prosthetic to the right. He got ready to strap the fin on, when Toothless moved his tail, again.

Hiccup sighed and moved the contraption once more but this time the tail lifted into the air. "It's okay." Seeing no other choice, he griped the tail with both of his hands and it started to move back in forth. Hiccup helds on and removed one hands to reach for the leather fin laying on the ground nearby. He found the prosthetic and grabbed it, only to lose his grip and be tugged forward by Toothless as he tried to get the last of the fish in the basket. Then the dragon finally remaining still. Hiccup seized the chance, sat down on Toothless's tail, and finally began to buckle on the fin.

* * *

Toothless froze and narrowed his eyes what was that on his tail? He flapped his tail fin, and were there had been emptiness for four days there was now something... His wings dropped to the ground in astonishment, then ever so slowly, he began to lift his wings preparing for flight.

* * *

"There." Hiccup spread the tail fin and he smiled and sat back to admire his handiwork, "Not too bad. It works." Then suddenly out of the blue, he was lifted off the ground, and Hiccup Horrendous Haddock began to scream with all his might. As they approached the edge of the cove, Toothless began to lose his height. Hiccup quickly yanked open the fin and they barely missed the forest floor.

* * *

He was overjoyed he could fly, he could fly again. Never had he ever thought that he would ever take to the skies once more. Then as he was just about to leave the cove, he started to fall. Then, right before hitting the ground, something changed and he swooped back up, quickly gain height and speed. However when reached the clouds mysteriously, he was dragged back toward the cove by something.

Back in the cove he was glided over the pond when someone exclaimed, "Yes! Yes, I did it." Toothless turned around and finally spotted the boy hanging on to his tail, so that was why he was pulled back to the cove. Annoyed the dragon flung the human off, he looked back and saw that his left tail fin was folded shut and refused to open, and then they both crash landed in the lake.

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 **If you haven't noticed, I've change a few things and added others. In my story the training doesn't begin till two days later so note that. And yes I have greatly messed with the original plot line so it's slightly wonky. The next update should be up with in a week if you want real time updates you can follow my tumblr, .com**


	8. Chapter Eight: Reasons

**This chapter is very very short and I apologize for that, but I promise that a new chapter is coming in two day if not tomorrow. Enjoy!**

 **Review Reply:**

 **dracologistmaster: Why thank you *blushes* you have no idea how much a compliment like that means, especially since I hope to become a published author one day.**

Hiccup found himself in the forge every moment of the day, fixing and changing the tail fin. Luckily for him Gobber was away in the Dragon arena all day, fixing it up for the start of this year's classes, the very classes Hiccup dreaded attending, the classes that would have made him ecstatic a mere year ago.

During this time he made quite a few advances, most apparent of all the dragon saddle. Now which Viking would be crazy enough to pair those words together, the entire archipelago would wonder.

He stopped working for a second and simply sat there absorbing the events of the last few days, the last five days had been so wild that he hadn't really paused for a second to just think, which was quite unusual for the likes of Hiccup.

* * *

If the soon to be dragon rider wasn't in the forge, he was out well, trying to ride dragons, a nightfury to be exact. All the flights had been fails so far, but there a two types of failure, not all is quite that bad you see. Luckily for Hiccup his failures were the good kind, the ones that steadily led him toward his grand breakthrough that was quickly approaching.

However, for the time being we must satisfy ourselves with the tale, not of his great achievement, but of one that will be essential in the coming days…

* * *

They crash landed once more the tail was still not quite right, he began to think of what he needed to change when he heard a large animal purring and thrashing around not five feet away. It was most definitely Toothless, and indeed it was. However the nightfury had never acted this way, the boy pondered the dragons actions and finally decided that it must have been the grass. This grass was different from the grass near the village, and the grass there wasn't even half as tall as this. He plucked a few pieces to study, maybe it could come in useful, it seemed to have a calming effect on dragons.

* * *

Hiccup sat in the cove Toothless curled up beside him, the boy petted the dragon half mindedly, the other half of his head far far away perched in the dragon's cage. The cage that held the two Vikings he wished to rescue. "Toothless," he murmured. The dragon's ears instantly perked up, and he cocked his head, "What is it Hiccup?" then the dragon starred guilty at the ground. "If this is about me throwing you off my tail yesterday, I'm sorry. Honestly I had no idea…" to Toothless's relief he was cut off, turned out it was something else. However the relief disappeared when he heard the despair and guilt in his human's tone.

"I need to rescue the two other Vikings," he sighed, during all these hours of planning and working he'd had refused to acknowledge the real reason he needed to bring Astrid and Fishlegs back. He didn't want to think about it…

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 **Haha I feel so evil, sorry for the cliffie I couldn't resist. Anyway, sorry again for the short chapter this is a preparation chapter, the action is soon to come. I'm also sorry if the weird narrator style threw you off, I just could not resist, I find I rather like writing that way.**


	9. Chapter Nine: Friends

**As I promised we have an update! Lately I've been on a writing streak so expect more soon. Also I have just discovered the amazing world of Rise of the Guardians and Big Hero 6. I did not know what I missing out on, thought I don't really have any ideas for fanfic based on those to movies. So don't worry HTCADQ is not getting replaced. As alway enjoy!**

 **dracologistmaster: I can't wait either, I am super excited to write the rescue, and speaking of how Astrid reacts to Toothless well I've got a few tricks up my sleeve.**

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Toothless nodded, urging his friend to continue, he could tell there was something else just hanging on the edge of Hiccup's tongue. The boy sighed, and finally, finally broke the iron cage he had built around the thought, "I feel guilty, so guilty about everything." Hiccup threw up his arms, "I escaped, but they didn't even have the chance, me and you are the only people who can have a chance to save them. And however small that chance is, it's not fair to not try."

Toothless nodded once more, and took in a deep breath, in order to help his friend he would have to betray his own clan, but he trusted Hiccup. " **I know the Vikings haven't been able to find the nest but that's because they've never went at the right time or with the right animals. You see only dragons can find the nest most of the time and only when the sun is highest in the sky is the fog clear enough for other animals to see through."** Hiccup nodded his eyes filled with his never ending hunger for knowledge. **"Another reason to go during middle day is because that's when the my clan goes hunting for fish."**

Hiccup's brows furrowed, "Um they don't ever raid during noon?" "What's noon?" Toothless asked. "It means middle day," the boy explained. The dragon sighed, **"You don't think we actually eat the things we take right? The clan really only eats one thing fresh fish, which we catch ourselves."**

Hiccup stared at him a _**bewilder**_ ed expression on his face, _what was this Thor forsaken **beast** saying, DID THAT MEAN ALL THEIR FOOD WAS WASTED?_ Now he was angry, he thought back to all the winters that they had food shortages, while the dragons dumped down their precious food somewhere. but then he remembered what the Vikings had done to the dragons... Toothless realizing that his human was upset quickly apologized, **"I'm sorry Hiccup, I should have realized that would be a touchy subject."** "It's okay, anyway my kind isn't exactly innocent either." Hiccup responded and scratched Toothless's head, "It's getting dark I should be working on the tail, I think this time I've finally got it." The dragon purred his approval.

* * *

He walked back into town only to discover that a raid had occurred, a couple houses had been burnt but the animals seemed to be all accounted for. The damage wasn't the worst, indeed it seemed that the only casualties had been the stray burnt shingles or wooden board, nothing that couldn't be fixed or replaced with in an hour, it almost was like the dragons were sending a message.

His feet led him to the forge where he found Gobber singing and pounding metal. He wouldn't be able to work tonight, Gobber would ask to many questions, and with a saddle of that size what could he be trying to ride? A yak? Anyway the tail fin would lead directly to dragon, there was no other plausible explanation, no other creature had a tail fin of such size and shape.

Hiccup turned toward his house, he might as well record all that Toothless said down, it might come in handy one day.

* * *

The next morning he woke face down on his desk, papers were plastered to his cheeks. Hiccup groaned he'd stayed up all night recording and thinking over all Toothless had told him last night, and from what he remembered he had decided that they would go to Dragon Island at noon on the day or day after he perfected the tail fin.

He yawned lifted his head from the table and plucked the pages off his face. After rubbing his eyes he inspected the papers making sure there was no smudges from his face. Satisfied he gathered all the lose papers, stacked them in a pile and slid them into his notebook. Then he tucked the book with the papers, under his arm.

Hiccup stood up to go to the cove to feed Toothless, when he remembered that last night he'd left a small pile of fish for the dragon, but he couldn't remember why. He shrugged his shoulders feeling like he was missing something, and decided instead to head to the forge, however half way there it hit him. Today was the start of Dragon Training, his heart instantly plummeted, could he get away with skipping class? He wondered, probably not…

All too soon he arrived at the training arena, even after having to make a detour back to the house to drop off his notebook, it still felt like he had gotten here too soon. Snotlout and the twins Ruff and Tuff were already standing in the middle of the arena with Gobber. The group was uncharacteristically quiet, normally they would have been discussing the multitude of scars they wished to receive but instead the absence of the two Vikings was greatly felt.

Snotlout nodded in Hiccup's direction, ever since he had become the only Viking to ever come with in such a close proximity to a nightfury and leave with his life, everyone in the village paid more respect to him. Also the fact that he was the only one to escape the dragon kidnapping only added to his new status.

Just six days ago he would have loved the fact that the Vikings were paying attention to him even when he hadn't screwed up big time. But now it kind of made him sick, just that fact that he'd had to almost die to be noticed was just so wrong in so many ways.

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 **I've hidden a pretty crappy reference to HTTYD 2 wonder if you got it? Next update will most likely be tomorrow.**


	10. Chapter Ten: You've Been Gronckled

**So yes, I have absolutely nothing to say... Enjoy!**

 **Review Replies:**

 **HappyPup1: Yep you got my little tease, and for all who didn't get it "Hiccup stared at him a _bewildered_ expression on his face, what was this Thor forsaken _beast_ saying, DID THAT MEAN ALL THEIR FOOD WAS WASTED? Get it?" Anyway that's probably not the best joke ever, but my sense of humor is not the best. More references are coming...**

 **dracologistmaster: We'll see, we'll see. I still have absolutely no idea what to do with Snotlout.**

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The first day of training had been a straight up failure in so many ways, in fact class had been cut short at mid-day and the next day's class had been delayed. But it wasn't like Hiccup had any issues with that decision.

* * *

Gobber who greatly appreciated the technique of learning on the job had just let out a gronckle and told them, "Today is about survival. If you get blasted, you're dead. Quick, what's the first thing you're going to need?" Hiccup who wasn't even trying, screamed, "A Doctor."

The teacher (if you could even call him that) waited for the resident smarty Astrid to correctly answer the question, when he realized that the prized pupil was not there. He sighed, "A Shield, that's what you need you dunces. Go!" The recruits scrambled for shields, and found them scattered around the ring.

Hiccup struggled as he tried his best to pick up a shield half as tall as him; Gobber appeared behind him, "Your most important piece of equipment is your shield. If you must make a choice between a sword or a shield, take the shield." Then he lifted the shield for Hiccup, forced it into his arms and gave him a "fatherly" shove.

* * *

Meanwhile the twins were fighting, that's a no brainer; those two could fight over almost anything. This time it was something about flowers and shields. As they played tug of war they were hit by the gronckle's fire and they were out first. The second target was Snotlout, he of course had not been fighting over a shield with anyone, but he was distracted by his thoughts. I know your probably wondering what he was distracted by, but don't ask me, I have no idea. However, if I had to guess it was most likely something about Ruffnut being the only single Viking Teen left on Berk? But who really knows.

So what happened to Hiccup? Judging by the first sentence not to great but that's your call.

* * *

"Those shields are good for another thing. Noise. Make lots of it to throw off a dragon's aim." Hiccup the only one left standing followed Gobber's directions, he grabbed a hammer from the ground and started to pound his shield. His motive today, unlike the others, was to not kill the beast, but not get killed himself. The first goal would be much easier to achieve it was like he would ever have the chance to kill the dragon anyway, but keep himself alive, that would be challenging, especially with Gobber's teaching methods.

It was all going so well, and then he lost his grip on the shield and the hammer so he had no choice but to hide, thinking quickly (quick doesn't always mean smart) he dropped the hammer and ran behind a wooden barricade. Why he picked a WOODEN barricade, don't ask…

The gronckle looked around confused, then deciding that it must have scared the last scrawny boy off, and preceded to try to find a way out of this dastardly prison. Hiccup slowly crept out from behind his hiding spot and was tiptoeing toward the gronckle when it smelled him and turned around, its jaws open wide.

Hiccup found himself with no plan (yes, sneak up behind a dragon with no plan at all, best idea ever) no weapon or shield, and…. stuck in a corner.

he gronckle was preparing to burn Hiccup alive when Gobber grabbed the beast by the mouth with his hook. Then he wrangled the beast, threw it back into it's pen and shut the door. But not before the dragon managed to melt part of the chain mesh that covered the arena.

Hiccup failed just as spectacularly as he always did, but this time...he failed in first place...

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 **Thanks for reading you reviewers don't know it but you guys are what give me fuel to write. thing?Knowing people will read your writing is one of the best feelings ever. So do you like the weird narrator talking?**


	11. Chapter Eleven: Tickled

***sarcasm* Yay! you guys get another dose of my AMAZING humor, just what you need. So anyway this is more of a cuteness and build up chapter. Enjoy!**

 **Review Replies:**

 **HappyPup1: Thank thor I wasn't driving anyone nuts, and thank you so much you made my day! And yes I do admit it, lol it's like a hyper adrenaline rush. And I will continue updating, but with me needing to juggle school, writing book reviews, blogging, reading,** **writing I may take a little longer. And sure I'll check out your stories, it would be my pleasure.**

 **dracologistmaster: Thank you! Yep can't wait to write that part. More will be up soon, dragon training shall continue in either the next chapter or chapter 12.**

* * *

Hiccup slumped on to the bed, his eyes closed immediately. He had been working day and night which had not been any good for his sleep cycle.

The next morning the first thing he did the second he woke up was to start drawing his instruction manual (cheat sheet) After intense research; aka many occasions of falling from the sky, he had discovered that the tail needed to be able to form many different positions in order to mimic the movements of the natural dragon fin.

* * *

Now, finally after all those nights in the forge he had something that might actually work. However first he needed to continue working on the saddle, the fin and the cheat sheet were finished but the saddle and the stirrup thing that controlled the tail still needed prepping.

* * *

When the son of the chief immerged from his house carrying a weird metal contraption under his arm, everyone instantly started to mummer. This only added to their curiosity, in fact for the last few days the boy was rarely seen, and if he was it was normally on a path between the forge, his house, or the surrounding woods. What was even stranger was that he hadn't caused a catastrophe ever since he'd come back. Well, unless you counted the incident in the arena, but he'd been the last one standing, you could hardly consider that a mess up. Sure he probably could have not destroyed the arena roof, but then again a win was a win no matter up, according to the Vikings.

* * *

Hiccup entered the forge, not even hesitating on the threshold, he was confident that Gobber would be in the arena. Class had been suspended for two days thanks to his antics. This had probably been his most successful accident ever, considering that most of the others had not benefit him in anyway, cut that none of them did. He needed to finish the fin today, because lesson two would be tomorrow, so unless he somehow managed to destroy part of the killing arena again he would have a lot less time on his hands.

* * *

Hiccup entered the cove bearing the finished saddle and tail fin. (how he carried both I will never know, because that saddle was huge. Uh... no... Toothless. I am not calling you fat…) He was going to place the saddle on Toothless's back but, the dragon had other plans. Apparently Toothless though Hiccup needed some exercise, long story short Hiccup was forced to play a game called catch the giant black dragon so you can put a saddle on it.

Oh yes he did end up getting the saddle on to that dragon, but how did he catch the nightfury? Now that's a fun tale.

* * *

Hiccup chased Toothless round and round the cove, making absolutely no leeway, when out of some confusion he managed to end up right in front of the dragon. Toothless automatically swiveled around and ran in the opposite direction.

Hiccup may not be too impressive in the strength department, but he was very smart, so he could think up good plans. (Most of the time, and normally on topics that do not include dragons) The boy leaped and managed to get a grip on the dragon's back, then he flattened himself against the dragon and held on for dear life. His ride was bumpy; Toothless's jolting up and down was starting to make him feel seasick. Sighing he decided he would have to try something he'd never tried before, he was going to tickle a dragon. Ridiculous, I know, but stuck there on that dragon he couldn't really do much else.

Hiccup started with the back of Toothless's neck, it was the easiest place to reach, and he wasn't about to risk his life until he knew the plan would work. The nightfury purred and stretched his neck out, but made no move to stop. The boy groaned the time was ticking away, he needed to get the saddle on today. Gritting his teeth he slowly reached out for the dragon's neck as the forest race by around him. Dragon scales were slippery and if he were to fall... (of course Hiccup should have known that Toothless wouldn't really let that happen, but you try thinking reasonably as you are raced around on the back of a very slippery dragon.)

Finally, he was in tickling range of Toothless's neck, very carefully he started to tickle the dragon. However because Toothless was moving so fast it felt more like scratching, but that wasn't necessarily bad. The off spring of lighting and death itself, collapsed into a heap of purrs and smiles. Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III never did find out if dragons were ticklish that day, but he had gained a very useful piece of information. Always scratch a dragon underneath it's chin, if for example it's trying to kill you or runaway with you on it's back.

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 **I'm so sorry I keep on dragging on the whole working on the fin thing, but I feel if I make it too fast it'll feel too easy. If you have any suggestions or ideas feel free to leave them in reviews, I might just consider using them. Bye till the next update!**


	12. Chapter Twelve: Test Drive

**Hey guys. Sorry I haven't uploaded lately tthat's mainly because I've been traveling and didn't have access to a computer, however I did manage to write 3 chapters, I just need to revise them. Enjoy!**

 **Review Replies**

 **Dracologistmaster: Great predictions, now here's your next update.**

 **HappyPup1: Sorry bout that but in my defense I did write and revise that at like 12 in the morning. That's for the heads up. And that's so sweet you reviewers make me happy when I see your reviews.**

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He had no idea what to think, he had been raised to believe dragons were evil killing machines... but the dragons he saw here simply did not match up with the dragons he'd seen on the raids for his entire life. Why hadn't the dragons killed them yet? He had heard tales of Vikings that had been carried off and never seen again, the Berkians had always said that the people must have been eaten and before this he had never questioned that reasoning.

Ever since that cooked fish had landed in his hole prison; which was presumably from Astrid, a stick had been left and fire had been lit in the pit every day. How this started he also had no idea, but did it really matter? Fishleg's felt like he was going insane, just laying around all day trying to figure out what was going on, was giving him a headache. He'd read the book of dragons cover to cover countless times always believing it would hold the answer, but this time he was on his own. Since they now had a plentiful supply of food Fishleg's and Astrid began to talk a little, but mysteriously the dragons seemed to understand them so they didn't try to discuss plans of escape. Even Astrid had no clue what to do and she always had a plan.

* * *

Finally he managed to wrestle the saddle onto Toothless, but only after the whole chasing fiasco, luckily something good came out of it for him. He'd discovered a technique that should prevent a raging dragon from killing him, should. He wasn't sure, but hey it was better than nothing.

After strapping on the saddle, he moved onto the tail. Fortunately, Toothless had calmed down and whatever had possessed him to run around the cove like a maniac had gone. He attached the tail then cinched the straps, making sure it would stay on tight. He didn't want the tail falling off like last time, that had been a pure disaster.

* * *

Together Toothless and Hiccup glided through the air, it was a perfectly lovely day, the soft white clouds were framed by the beautiful endless blue, creating a perfect day to fly. Since the tail seemed to work fine it was time to put it to the real test. He patted the side of Toothless's head, "Okay there bud, we're gonna take this nice and slow." Hiccup glanced down at his cheat sheet, and ran his finger along the tail positions and their pedal position equivalents, trying his best to memorize every single word. "Here we go. Here we go...position three, no four," he muttered, then finally ready to begin he pressed the pedal and the tail flared.

They started to move slowly, Toothless rotated ninety degrees till Hiccup was almost parallel with the ground below. Then he began to fly a little quicker and dived down slightly. When nothing broke unlike the last hundred times, the dragon flew a little faster and made a turn, his speed building steadily. The leather fin flapped in the wind a little, while the fin had been made very well it was still not at all comparable to the natural dragon tail fin, Mother Nature was superior in this case.

Hiccup leaned in and flattened himself against Toothless's neck, thrilled that his new harness and vest were holding along with the tail and saddle. Hiccup turned to watch Toothless' every fluctuation, and tried his best to match it with the prosthetic. Then he sized up his surroundings and picked a towering arch of stone that rose from the sparkling sea to be their first target. "Our target it that arch there." The boy pointed toward the stone arch and Toothless nodded. Hiccup continued to speak, "Alright, it's go time. It's go time." He murmured to the nightfury, still not completely confident. The dragon picked up on the boy's uncertainty and crooned softly, to convey that it would be fine. Hiccup smiled feeling a little better, "Thanks bud."

Then he leaned down and flattened himself against the Dragon's scaly back and together they dived toward their target, lining up to pass through the arch. "Come on. Come on buddy. Come on buddy!" Hiccup urged as they approached the arch, Toothless tilted slightly and his left wing skimmed the surface of the sea.

The dragon growled in approval as they zipped through the sea arch, Hiccup looked up just in time to see the ceiling of the arch and a flock of white birds before it disappeared from sight, "Yeah! Yes, it worked!" The boy cried, it had been a perfect maneuver, but his triumph was short lived. They smacked into one of several sea stacks as an overexcited Hiccup struggled to keep up with Toothless, "Sorry." They crashed into another rock pillar and this time Toothless grumbled, "are you trying to kill me?" "That's my fault," Hiccup replied and the dragon swatted him with one scaly ear. "Yeah, yeah, I'm on it," he studied the cheat sheet, and at the same time muttered to himself, "Position four, no three."

The dragon snarled and their altitude increased dramatically, they started to ascend rapidly. Toothless's tongue hung out of his mouth as if he was concentrating really hard. Finally together they pierced the clouds for the first time, and Hiccup caught a glimpse of something no one else had ever seen, the entirety of Berk laid out beneath oneself, and it was breathtaking. "Yeah! Go baby! Yes!" He cried to no one in particular.

Then to Toothless he said "Oh, this is amazing! The wind in my..." Hiccup caught sight of the cheat sheet as it tore free from its holder. Hiccup started to panic, "...CHEAT SHEET! STOP! He grabbed frantically at the leather guide and manages to snatch it before it flew out of his reach. All seemed fine till Toothless obeying Hiccup's earlier command ceases to beat his wings, they slowed to a stop hundreds of feet above ground.

Hiccup went weightless and the rings of his vest floated off of the harness hooks. Suddenly he found himself detached from the dragon free falling through the air, "Oh gods! Oh no!" Without Hiccup Toothless lost control on his tail and begins to plummet as well.

Without the boy the dragon could not fly and without the dragon the boy could not fly either, it took the two of them together to soar. They began to spiral downwards quickly, Toothless tried his best to get back under Hiccup but couldn't seem to get there. "Alright, okay. You just gotta kinda angle yourself. No, no...come back down towards me. Come back down-" as Toothless tried to follow Hiccup's instructions he began to spin in circles faster and faster till finally he accidentally smacked the boy in the face with his wing.

Hiccup flinched and placed the cheat sheet between his teeth and after a few fails managed to grab hold of the saddle and clip onto the harness. He locked in just in time to keep them from crashing into the rocks below, and opened the tail fin, then Toothless spread his wings and just pulled out of his dive, barely missing the trees.

But the trouble wasn't done for them yet, remember that cheat sheet in Hiccup's mouth, well he kind of needed that and I'm sure you can't read things that are in your mouth.

They careened past the cliff covered in trees and were thrown directly into the path of a large cluster of stone sea stacks, Hiccup pulled the cheat sheet out of his teeth and tried in vain to flatten it out so he could check the positions. However the leather sheet flapped violently refusing to stay still long enough to be read. Making a split second decision he flung the piece of leather into the wind, hoping he wouldn't regret it later.

Then for the first time he began to steer the tail purely out of a combination instinct and memory. Together they soared through the maze of terrifyingly close together sea pillars, in their moment of panic they finally got all the motions correct, Hiccup matching Toothless's fin perfectly with ever tight turn and Toothless was fully coordinated with all of Hiccup's motions. Together they made a stunning team. When they shot out completely unharmed from the group of sea stack, they both couldn't believe what just happened. The boy sucked in a deep breath and looked back toward the daunting maze of stone pillars they'd just flew through, and beamed completely and utterly relieved. Hiccup let's go of the saddle and threw his arms up in victory and at the same time screamed, "YEAH!" Toothless equally excited let out a squeal and a flaming purple fireball, the second Hiccup saw that they were heading straight for the ball of fire his face fell, "Ah come on."

Hiccup was slightly stiff from his little trip through the burning fireball, but they had no choice, the sun was already climbing to the highest point in the sky. "On to dragon island!"

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 **I'm excited the story is getting exciting!**


	13. Chapter Thirteen: Dragon Island

**A/N: It's getting exciting, and I can't wait! Don't really have much to say... Anyway thanks so much for all the support :)** **Enjoy!**

 **Review Reply:**

 **dracologistmaster: Oh yes! but my story will be different! So get ready for a surprise.**

 **HappyPup1: One of mine too, I smile every single time I see the part where they finally learn to fly! And um I sort of forget to sleep occasionally. I normally get my best ideas in the middle of the night.**

 **SkyHighFan: I agree, totally priceless.**

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Toothless had been right, after they'd passed through the first layer of mist the fog had started to clear very slowly. Soon Hiccup was able to see just as well as Toothless could. As they glided through the hazardous pillars of rock, they spotted many of the lost ships rocking in the wind; their sails tattered, looking like ghosts. The entire atmosphere was gloomy and kind of creepy. "We have to be out before the sun moves, if you want to be able to see. The fog comes on very quickly." Toothless warned. Hiccup leaned down and patted the side of the dragon's head, "Thanks for the warning, but why has no Viking ever discovered that the fog disappears?" Toothless snorted, "Because their ships are too slow, if the fog disappears when they come in then they won't make it out before the mist reappears. And with the fog they always crash into something, or my clan attacks them in order to protect the nest" Hiccup nodded to himself it made sense, the ships speed could not even begin to compare to a dragon's, and human eyesight was far from the fire breathing reptiles. According to Toothless he had ten minutes of sight, but that shouldn't be an issue because Toothless could see through the fog no problem, as long as he could see they could make it out.

They touched down on the island, pebbles scattering around them. The dragons' island was cover in rocks and there were two very large mountains shooting straight up from the rocky ground.

"So which one are we heading for?" The boy asked. However before Toothless could reply, Hiccup got his answer. A giant swarm of dragons exploded from the slightly larger mountain on the right. The reptiles were all different colors and their scales glistened in the afternoon sun, millions of wings caught the light as they soared through the sky. A cacophony of screeches rang out, the air vibrated with the sound. The dragons' cries were not unpleasant, in fact if they had not been destroying Hiccup's ear drums they could have sounded quite lovely, like a loud screaming orchestra.

It was hunting time, the dragons were all excited, who didn't like nice juicy fish? Almost all the dragons went, except the elders, injured, and nursing or expecting mothers. They hunted in a large pack once a day now, but long long ago the dragons used to go out one by one, bringing back their own catches for their families, but once the humans had come it had become much safer to hunt in one large group.

After the flock had left and the noise had died down, the island was virtually empty. "Should we wait?" Hiccup wondered. Toothless shook his head, "No we're clear, but not all the dragons left. We still have to watch out for the mothers, elders, and injured." "Okay got it," Hiccup replied, and they took off, heading for the mountain cave's entrance.

Toothless flew as quietly as he could through one of the many entrances that lead to the dragons' lair. Hiccup's heat pounded, he was going to be the first Viking to ever see the Dragon nest, and hopefully the first to get out alive.

The boy squeezed his eyes shut, he was very nervous. Suddenly something scaly brushed Hiccup's face and he opened his eyes to see that Toothless had tapped him with one of his ears. "So what do you think?" Hiccup finally noticed his surroundings and his mouth hung open, the mountain had looked so normally on the outside... but inside...

The roof was covered with ice crystals that dripped from the ceiling like water droplets caught in time. In sharp contrast, the floor of the cave was covered in lush green grass and moss, that was just as stunning as the spikes of blue ice that covered the ceiling. Tall spires of gray stone with vines crawling up them joined the floor to the roof. Bountiful ferns grew scattered on the ground, completing the enchanting sight.

"I..I... Who. How did this happen?" The floor and ceiling of this cave should have been impossible, ice and green foliage. "It was built by our first leader; she was of the alpha species." Toothless explained, "While any dragon can be the alpha of a dragon nest only an alpha species can create a nest like this. Every nest begins with an alpha species." Hiccup nodded in amazement, completely lost for words. This place was absolutely mind blowing...

"Um... Hiccup?" "Yes," he replied half mindedly. Toothless sighed, "I know this is amazing but we got to get going, the pack will return soon and we have this whole nest to search." Hiccup nodded reluctantly, he wanted to stay here forever, staring. However, he was getting the chance to explore the dragon nest, and that thought lightened his mood considerably. What other hidden gems could be in a place like this?

The two looked around not sure where a group of dragons would hide two humans, Hiccup hoped they were still here, and that something else hadn't happened to them... But Toothless had been very confident that his clan hadn't harmed them. While Hiccup may not have been as sure as his dragon friend, Toothless knew dragons best, so what he said was most likely true.

In a dark corner of the dragon mountain, they stumbled across a small cave that branched off from the main nest. The entrance was partially covered by a thick curtain of Lichen, it looked private, but it also looked like where human prisoners might be kept.

"Should we look in here?" The boy asked unsure if he should enter. Toothless nodded, "this cave normally houses dragons that need some solitude. The nest has separate areas for the sick and elders and we also have a nursery, but while those areas are more secluded than the main nest, some still need a bit more privacy. It would make sense for your friends to be in there."

Hiccup smiled nervously, finally they were getting somewhere. Then very slowly he approached the Lichen screen and pulled it to the side and held it open for Toothless as he entered, then Hiccup let the curtain fall back into place after himself. The cave was lightless and deathly quiet except for the slow drip of water that came from the back of the room. "Toothless? Can you see anything?" He whispered, the nightfury let out a high pitched sound. Purple light spread through the cave, then bounced back toward Toothless and disappeared as quickly as it came. "I can sense.." the dragon stopped speaking abruptly, when they both heard something rustle. "Astrid?" Hiccup called softly. "Who are you?"

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 **A/N: Ahh another cliffie. So who do you think it is? Is it Astrid or is it someone else? I might or might not have a chapter up tomorrow, cause I'm moving. Bye!**


	14. Chapter Fourteen: Who?

**A/N: And the person has been revealed! This one is a pretty long chapter. This one was a lot of fun to write Hiccup may act a little oc but that's mainly his shock. Enjoy!**

 **Review Replies:**

 **HappyPup1: We'll see we'll see, update is here!**

 **ivanganev1992: Let's see!**

 **dracologistmaster: Thanks!**

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They both froze. The boy because although this voice was feminine it was clearly not Astrid's. The dragon because he knew this voice.

There was a flash of light, then the sound of a small explosion, and a fire sprang up illuminating the room. Crouched in the back corner was a Timberjack of average size, the one anomaly was the size of her wings, they were large even for her species, and razor sharp too.

Hiccup stumbled back into Toothless, and under his breath he murmured, "We need to get out of here." A dragon's voice replied but not the one he'd expected. Darn he'd forgotten that all dragons' not just nightfuries had amazing hearing. "The human can speak dragonese?" came the disbelieving voice.

Toothless nodded, stepped forward and added his own flame to the only light source in the room. The fire instantly expanded and the room brightened. Now that Hiccup could get a better look at the Timberjack he noticed the gash in her wing membrane. Even though this dragon could potentially kill them both, he felt his heart sink at the sight of such a ghastly wound. His kind had probably made it, nothing but a man-made weapon could cause a cut like that.

Toothless lowered his head, "Yes my queen, he can speak and understand our language." Hiccup frowned in confusion, my queen? Then he remembered the alpha was a Timberjack accord to Toothless... this must be Flare. Still clearly bewildered the Alpha asked again, "How can it speak, it can't be true..." When the Timberjack made no move to kill them, Hiccup started to get a little annoyed, he was standing right here, they didn't need to refer to him as it or the human.

Suddenly the expression of disbelief was replace with sadness, "The last one we saw who could speak dragonese was Valka, and that was so long ago..." "What did you say?" Hiccup asked. The queen started as if only noticing him now, "oh nothing." She smiled sadly, "It's good to see one of you again, it's been such a while." Flare paused for moment as if reminiscing. "Anyway, my name is Flare, what is yours young one." The boy disliked being called young one but what choice did he have, "my name's Hiccup."

The alpha smiled in a motherly way, "Hiccup. What a... perfectly unusual name." She shook her head, "I will never get those Vikings. So how did you two meet?" Hiccup laughed, now that was quite the story, "Well Toothless here, tried to kidnap me." Flare frowned, "Who is. Toothless?" She said the name delicately if not a bit distastefully, after all it made sense for a dragon to hate "Viking" names. Hiccup sighed at his own stupidity; of course Toothless would have another name to his people. "My fault, just a nickname. So what is his real name?" The queen looked a little sheepish, "He doesn't have a name, he is known as Nightfury." The boy looked confused, "am I supposed to call you Timberjack?"

The dragon whose name was indeed Flare and not Timberjack laughed uncomfortably, "Uh no, we never bothered to name, um uh... Toothless." Hiccup felt shocked and enraged, he imagined if he'd never been given a name. Sure Hiccup was not the best name ever, but how awful to just get called Nightfury. That would be like the village calling him runt... wait never mind his name already meant runt, but whatever he knew what he meant.

Hiccup struggled to keep his anger off his face as he looked back at the alpha; instinctively he wrapped one of his arms around Toothless's neck and gave it a squeeze. "It's okay Hiccup, it's fine." Toothless murmured, sensing the human's disbelief and anger. Hiccup nodded even though it was absolutely not okay. An awkward silence formed in the tiny alcove, each side too polite to say anything.

Finally the Alpha cleared her throat and asked, "Why are you here?" Toothless gave Hiccup a gentle nudge from behind, urging the boy to speak. Hiccup nodded and cleared his throat, "I have come to request the release of the two humans you hold hostage." The queen just nodded, Hiccup had expected her to at least look angry but she just sat there calmly, the Alpha must have suspected that was their reason. "Why should I let them go?" Flare's voice was not cold or harsh simply neutral.

Hiccup had no idea what to say, he'd planned on sneaking in, not negotiating with the dragons. Luckily an idea popped into his head, he brightened and deflated at the same time. Hiccup had nothing else but if he used this piece of information, he was openly betraying his father and the village. Making up his mind Hiccup sucked in a deep breath. "I will give you the approximate time and date of the next attack from the Vikings, however you must promise that all the Vikings will return alive and that you will let the two prisoners free." The Queen studied him with her intelligent yellow eyes, "we never harmed the Vikings in the first place, but your request can be arranged." Hiccup frowned, could the Alpha be telling the truth, was that even possible...

"I have terms too." Hiccup was shook from his thoughts, what could she want? "I request the safe return of the three dragons that are held in captivity by your people." Hiccup knew to anyone else this would had seemed like an unfair deal; three dragons and precious information for two humans, but if what the queen spoke of was true then the humans had killed thousands of dragons and the dragons had killed no humans, which were completely unequal odds. "Four. There are four," Hiccup didn't know why he said that, for he was just making his part of deal harder.

Flare stared at him, an expression of admiration formed on her long face, "You tell me the truth Hiccup, but why? It does not benefit you." The boy stuttered, unsure of what to say, "I… I, thought you might want to know, their family might have been worried." Flare cut him off, but not in a rude way, "Out of curiosity, what species is the fourth one you were talking about?" Hiccup thought for a second, trying to remember the three dragons Toothless had told him about. "It's a Zippleback." The Alpha's face brightened, "Barf and Belch, they've been missing a while I was hoping it was them." Hiccup stumbled back, Barf and Belch, how had he known...

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Before the start of dragon training, right after he met Toothless, he'd walked into the arena curious whether the other dragons were like Toothless too.

* * *

He was sure he'd had a reason for coming here of all places, but the second he'd walked through the arena gates his mind had gone blank.

The doors to the Dragon cages rattled and shook, Hiccup could hear the dragons' fury at being trapped in their tight and uncomfortable enclosures. He started to pace around the edge of the arena thinking. Was Toothless one of a kind? Were the other dragons really as the Vikings said, or had the dragons been misunderstood for three hundred years? Was this entire war a misunderstanding?

As the boy walked passed each Dragon's cage their protests stopped, however so engrossed in his thoughts was he that he did not realize till the entire arena had gone quiet. Then as he paused in front of the last cage to stare, Barf and Belch had suddenly popped into his head, for no particular reason, it had just appeared.

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He had later passed it off as a simple coincidence, now he wasn't so sure, but how… He'd already known the names of the other three dragons thanks to Toothless and at that time while he had been starting to understand Toothless better he still didn't understand all the dragons. Trust me Hiccup tried, it didn't work out to well, something to do with almost getting burnt to a crisp by a changewing. Luckily before that happened, Toothless intervened.

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"Errr. Uh I know this is going to sound crazy but I knew the Zippleback's names before you told me." The queen looked at him with a new interest, if she even had anymore to spare, this particular human had blown her mind multiple times. "You see names have no real meaning in either language, and they are the only thing universally understood between humans and dragons. Should a dragon wish they can reveal their name to a human in the form of a thought, but only if the human listens close enough." She paused and took a breath, "This process is thought to be the first step in forming a bond between a human and a dragon, but there hasn't been such a bond in so many years no one knows for sure. Barf and Belch must have sensed a dragon bond, and for some reason they decided to trust you." The Queen looked fondly at the pair standing in front of her, "it's nice to know that all humans aren't awful."

Hiccup was about to object but Flare began to speak again, "so do you agree to my terms? In exchange for the release of the two humans I ask for your information and the safe return of my people." Hiccup nodded and the Alpha bowed her head, "So we have reached an agreement?" she asked. "Yes, I promise that I will bring your people back to you, it is the only way to make things right."

The Queen nodded her head in approval, Hiccup wondered whether he would end up regretting this, he didn't even want to think what would happen if he failed to live up to his end of the deal.

Flare sat there obviously waiting. Hiccup sighed and tried to convince himself that this was for the good of both the dragons and his people. "A ship sailed four days ago, it is heading for your island you should expect it in one to two days. I am expecting the ship back with everyone alive."

Flare nodded, "I promise they will be back safe, if we have to protect them ourselves we will." "I will do the same, I will do all in my power to return your people to their homes." The Queen smiled, "you will make a fine leader one day. Now go, the humans you wish to retrieve are outside around the back of the cave." Hiccup let out a small groan, of course… he should have known.

Hiccup nodded respectfully, and Toothless bade goodbye to his queen, then the boy climbed on to the dragon and together they flew away.

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Queen Flare sat in her small alcove a fire flickering before her. Tears welled in her eyes, oh how she missed that sight. She bit back her pain as she remembered her long lost love… he had picked a human over her and ever since she couldn't help but be a little bitter.

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 **A/N: Who do you guys think Flare's love interest is? Haha sneaky me, if you have a keen eye I hide not one but two references to HTTYD 2 characters. The first one is easy, but the second might take a little more inferencing. Also I'm thinking of doing a sequel based on the second movie called How To Bring Back a Dragon Queen, kind of obvious from the title if you can figure it out... But not sure whether I'll do it or not.**

 **HappyPup1: You owe me a review, JK. Astrid enters soon, and with a bang. I assure you.**

 **dracologistmaster: You are very right, I have to make things more difficult :)**


	15. Chapter Fifteen: Rescued

**I know, pathetically short this time but... I umm felt like leaving it off where I did for reasons, you'll understand. Now I think I'm gonna have to do a sequel, to many hints to my ideas... Haha I need to stop leaving them everywhere. So Enjoy! I have nothing left to say.**

 **Review Replies:**

 **HappyPup1: Sorry about no Astrid, but she's here now. Anyway, you where close, it's not the bewilderbeast, but remember Flare is the size of a normal dragon... *HINT HINT***

 **Dracologistmaster: Thank you. Well I give you half of that in this chapter. Yes you got it right! You got it! I hope to explore that ship in the future, I think I will write a sequel just for that, thanks for your support. Though funfact, when I first watched the movie I thought Toothless liked Cloudjumper. I know weird, I thought he was a girl, and I couldn't really understand their relationship. Still don't...**

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The boy and the dragon skidded to a stop in the pebbles, sending them flying once again. As they had flew above Hiccup had spotted two holes in the ground. According to Toothless, in them were two humans, one female and one very pudgy male.

"Which one holds the female again?" Hiccup whispered. **"Why? Do you want her to be your mate?"** Toothless teased.

"Now is not the time for this," the boy hissed. Since when did Toothless care about his non-existent love life.

 **"Fine. But seriously, why?"** The nightfury asked. "Because, she has a history with your kind, and not the good type. I have a separate plan for her," the human said, his voice was low and he spoke quickly.

 **"It's that one over there,"** Toothless tilted his head toward the hole on the left.

Hiccup nodded, "thanks, now please wait for me here."

Carefully he crept up to the hole, his body tense, this could go wrong in so many ways. Quietly he crouched down and peeked into the whole, and jumped back crashing into Toothless. Hiccup turned and glared at the dragon, "I thought I asked you to wait where you were." The nightfury had the decency to look guilty, **"I just wanted to see what she looked like."**

Hiccup sighed in frustration and turned back around toward the hole, right now Toothless was the least of his problems. Astrid must have heard him coming, because when he peeked into her prison the first thing he had seen was a sharpened stick pointed at his face.

"Who are you, why are you here," Astrid demanded from her hole. Hiccup heaved a sigh, whispered something in Toothless's ear, crouched down and looked back into the prison.

"Show yourself you son of a a… Hiccup?" Astrid expression could have won first prize in a competition for the best simultaneously angered and surprise face."

Hiccup looked up from the hole and saw that Toothless was perched right behind her, Astrid followed his gaze and saw the black dragon right behind her. The girl's eyes widen with fear and her face contorted in anger, but when she saw the saddle her mouth dropped.

"I'm so sorry Astrid, I really am." The girl turned back around becoming more and more confused. "Toothless now!" Astrid spun around on last time, only to get a face full of dragon tail, and she was knocked out…

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 **Ummm please don't kill me... but I had to do this I couldn't help myself! Hahahaha Sorry I can't... type... laughing... too *wheeze wheeze*hard. Also Son of a hiccup, LOL**


	16. Chapter Sixteen: Kidnapped, Again

**Sorry about the two day gap, I lost the use of my computer for a little while, but all is well now. Hope you guys enjoy!**

 **Review Replies:**

 **HappyPup1: Haha. We'll see. (I say that a lot don't I, sorry about that)**

 **Guest: True, good point.**

 **dracologistmaster: Thanks, hmmm course it won't, no one knocks out Astrid Hofferson.**

 **ivanganev1992: She has a history, that is yet to be explained. You'll understand why soon I promise. Fishlegs is coming.**

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He filled with guilt at the sight of the limp girl sprawled on the floor of the pit. He'd had no choice, if Astrid found out about Toothless she would have been determined to kill him, especially after the last few days, and he couldn't risk that.

Hiccup gestured for Toothless to leap into the prison, and jumped in himself. Gently he tried his best to pick her up without making her anymore more uncomfortable then she already was.

Wheezing under her weight he laid her across the saddle and climbed in behind the limp body. Hiccup placed one arm under her back to hold her steady, and with the other grabbed the saddle. "I'm ready."

Toothless grunyted and took off. For a while the dragon had to hover, as he slowly rose in the air. While the hole had been more then wide enough for a human, an average sized dragon with its wings spread could just barely fit.

This time Toothless flew steadily, with no sudden movements. They both didn't want Astrid to slip from the saddle. The second they'd left the island, the fog had started to close in. Within minutes Hiccup could no longer see anything; instead he simply had to depend on Toothless.

Flying high above the sea, Hiccup spotted a group of ships anchored on a small island just out of reach of the gray mist. He instantly recognized the ships, they were from Berk. "Toothless, lets rise a little higher. I spotted some ships from my village, and don't want to be seen." The dragon nodded, and they climbed through the clouds.

Ever year the Vikings would go on something they called a "grand" voyage. It was considered the highest honor to be chosen for such a trip. Before looking for the Dragon Nest, the Vikings would visit a few islands that were named after their gods and leave offerings on each, in hopes that one god would grant them victory. This made their voyage last much longer than usual, what would have taken them only a day at most, easily turned into six to seven days at sea.

* * *

Toothless landed in a clearing, Hiccup had picked this one in particular because he knew Astrid would recognize it, after all every single tree within ten feet was covered in marks from her axe.

Hiccup slid off Toothless and carefully lifted the limp figure off the dragon, then laid her down in a bed of pine needles. Finally, completely out of breath he hopped back into the saddle, noting the fading light.

"Toothless, you think you can perch in a tree and stay silent?" The dragon groaned, **"I guess."** "Thanks bud, I promise I'll pay this back to you." Toothless grunted and took off, and landed in a sturdy oak, the tree swayed but the branch held strong. There perched in the tree they waited for the girl to wake up.

* * *

About half an hour later Astrid woke up screaming. "HICCUP! You son of a half tro..." Then she realized that she was no longer dreaming and shut up immediately. In the large oak tree a dragon stifled a laugh and a human boy blushed bright red.

Astrid stood up and rubbed her head, why did she have such a massive headache. She looked around surveying her surrounds, and instantly recognized the trees around her, they were all cut and slashed by her axe. How was this possible? The girl studied her surroundings, hoping to find Fishlegs, when she saw nothing she called his name, nothing. Sighing, Astrid found the path back to Berk that she always used, perhaps they would have answers, plus it was getting dark.

* * *

Unbeknown to the Viking girl, a black shape flitted above her head, as she walked. This shape was a dragon, and riding this dragon was a boy, the very boy that had kidnapped her no less than forty minutes ago, unfortunately she did no see them for it was too dark, she also could not quite believe the actual events that had landed her at this very spot, for she thought they were a mere dream. That would stay hidden, and she would wonder, but answers will only reveal themselves when they are ready.

* * *

Hiccup trudged back to the village. He and Toothless had made sure Astrid made it to the village, then they had returned to the cove. The dragon had caught some fish with the help of the boy, and they'd said their goodnights and parted ways. Tomorrow they would go back for Fishlegs, but today was already ending and they needed their rest.

The boy walked toward his house; for once not heading to the forge first, when he was called over by Mulch as he passed by the Great Hall. "Hey Hiccup, come celebrate." Hiccup gave him a pretend look of confusion. "Haven't you heard Astrid is back!" the Viking exclaimed. The boy, who of course already knew, feigned surprise, sighed and walked over. He knew there was no getting out of this, but Hiccup was nervous that at seeing him Astrid would remember what had happened.

As he was lead into the Great Hall, Hiccup decided that he would just avoid Astrid and all would be fine. He had not known how hungry he was till he'd gotten a whiff of the food. Hiccup had forgotten to eat when Toothless had, and so he made straight for the table of food, grabbed a tray and piled some chicken on it. Mulch placed a hand on his shoulder and led him through the crowd, and only when the crowd parted to reveal their destination, did he realize where he was. The table where all the teens sat, including Astrid.

"Thought you'd like to sit with your friends." Mulch patted him on the back, and Hiccup considered slipping away, when Snotlout saw him and called the frozen Viking over, too late… Left with no choice once again Hiccup sat down at the table as far from Astrid as he could. The girl sported a confused expression that said we like him? Snotlout saw her face and began to speak, always eager to brag, even when the achievement wasn't exactly his, but a relative's. "Didn't you hear? My cousin escaped the dragons too." Astrid's mouth dropped and she turned to gape at Hiccup, Hiccup sensing her gaze turned his head as far from her as he could. But Snotlout of course was not done, "Hiccup was captured by a Nightfury!" Astrid just stared open-mouthed, unable to utter a single word. Snotlout clearly enjoying himself nodded at her astonishment, "And there's more, he somehow managed to cut down the dragon and he was dropped into the forest, but luckily for him I found him in the woods and rescued him." Hiccup who had not been rescued by his cousin, frowned more than a little bit annoyed, but he didn't say a word not wanting to bring anymore unwanted attention to himself. The boy smiled a little, wondering how Snotlout would react if he learned that the dragon had been aiming for him, he'd probably brag, as usual. "So Hiccup what does a Nightfury look like..."

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 **So Astrid was dreaming about ummm Hiccup knocking her out, and she remembers a bit (Toothless didn't hit her that hard) so she thinks it's a dream. Because Hiccup riding a Nightfury HAHAHA. Also sorry if any of the characters seem a little oc**


	17. Chapter Seventeen: Absent or Very Tardy

**Hello lovelies, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. Sorry for the gaps I started school recently so homework is coming soon and I have less time to write.**

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The next day Hiccup did as he had wished to do before dragon training had started, he skipped class. However, he could not enjoy the comfort of not being faced with raging dragons, for the stakes were higher today. If the nadder; he'd checked, was killed or even harmed Flare would be enraged. Though yesterday, she had held a calm mask Hiccup could sense her temper buried within, and if that temper was stoked... Also Hiccup had the added pressure of getting Fishlegs' home, if he'd had a choice he would have gone later so he could stay and make sure the Nadder was safe. However, the Vikings were due on Dragon Island today or tomorrow, and if by any chance they actually made it to the nest, Hiccup wanted to be the one to find Fishleg's first.

* * *

The air was still cold with the chill of the night and Hiccup's face was red and rubbed raw by the ruff wind. Today was indeed a splendid day, with sparse clouds littering the pink dawn, but both the dragon and the boy were too anxious to admire the beauty. Hiccup was trying to reach the island as quickly as he could, and Toothless was worried for his dragon friends in the arena. Before the first day of dragon fighting the boy had assured him that he would protect Meatlug, but today Hiccup was on his back, not in the arena protecting his friend.

They entered the mist, Hiccup had kept his eyes wide open, hoping to catching a glimpse of the ship, but at the same time hoping to avoid his father. He wanted an idea of where they were. This was one of the few times his father the chief of Berk had gone on the hunt for the nest, normally he'd had other more important things, or it was deemed unsafe. The Vikings didn't say it out loud but the real reason they were so protective of the Chief wasn't because, he was a good chief, thought that was part of the reason. No, it was because none of them wished to have Hiccup as a chief, they didn't attempt to hide their unhappiness of Hiccup being the heir, while no one had said it out loud, there were other ways to be obvious. The village of Berk was trying it's best to hang on to their Stoick as long as they could. However this time the Vikings had been to enraged to care, this time they were not only trying to vanquish the dragons, they were going for their children. Of course the Vikings sailing to the nest at this very moment had no way of knowing that one of the missing children had already returned, and that the second would most likely be following soon. It wasn't like Hiccup was just going to land one of the ships, and tell them, and riding a dragon no less.

This morning the fog was at its thickest, it drifted around in particularly blinding clouds, and even with the clouds passed it was still quite hard to see a thing. Hiccup was surrounded by dense fog, a thick cloud of the stuff just happened to be right in their way, causing him to barely see a thing, and if not that, just a faint silhouette. After a while the worse of the dense fog cloud began to recede, leaving Hiccup with adjusted vision. He still couldn't see much, but he could make out more things, meaning he could tell the difference between a sea stack and a rocking ship, plus he could make out some basic details.

Squinting his eyes, he tried his best to focus. Was that the outline of a ship moving forward just a bit? All the rest of the ships they'd seen had been snagged, rocking in the wind, their sails torn. However this one appeared to moving forward ever so slowly, but still moving. However it was nearly impossible to see, for the very thick cloud that had surrounded them now engulfed the ship. **"Ships ahead, I can see people on them."** Toothless warned quietly. So had seen right, it was them. Hiccup patted the side of the nightfury's head, "Can you go a little faster bud?" Toothless nodded and sped forward, leaving the ship behind for now.

* * *

The landing was abrupt; they sent stones scatter in every direction, some even landed in the hole where Fishlegs resided. Hiccup heard a hysterical whimper, how such a combination was possible? He had no clue, you'd have to ask the one who made such an exotic sound, Fishlegs. He'd considered bring Fishlegs' back much in the same fashion as Astrid, but had decided against it. Fishlegs' would most likely be more accepting than Astrid for he didn't have anything that would deeply anchor him to Berkians hate of dragons; anyway it wasn't like he could lift Fishlegs' even if he did manage to knock him out. Beside he couldn't have two people walking around with faint memories of being knocked out by him, it would be to risky; he needed one of them on his side. Silently, the boy walked toward the pit that held their last missing Viking, Hiccup crouched down and moved within Fishlegs' sight range. "Hiccup?" The boy was clearly surprised and confused. Hiccup nodded and sprang into the hole, "Fishlegs' it's fine, I'm here to get you out of this island, and back to Berk." Fishlegs' opened his mouth a few times as if to speak, then finally finding the right words. "So it true….." he murmured. Hiccup brow furled in confusion, "What?" He began but was cut off, "I heard Astrid say your name, but I thought it was just another one of her dreams, but after not hearing….. what did you do with her?" "What dreams?" Hiccup wondered but he waved that thought away, there was more urgent business to take care of. "I took her back to Berk, I need you to come with me, quick." Fishlegs nodded and Hiccup called for Toothless. "Who's Toothles.." Fishlegs began but he froze the second he saw the black dragon, the he noticed the saddle and discolored tail fin and his jaw dropped. "This is Toothless, but we have no time for proper introductions, I would love to explain but we have no time." He knew that the fog was starting to thin out, but while not by much once the Vikings passed through the thick cloud of fog that hovered over their ship, they'd be able to move much quicker. Though it was a slim chance that the Vikings could make it this far so fast, it was a chance he simply could not take, when Vikings got mad they could surprise you, their fury could be a powerful fuel. Hiccup knew that all would end if they were seen.

Fishlegs' nodded still bewildered, but he trusted Hiccup, well at least more than the other teens. In the midst of his confusion, the boy frowned. If he trusted Hiccup more than the others, why had he been friends with them inside of Hiccup? For the first time realizing the mistake that he'd made long ago, he decided that if Hiccup didn't kill him with this dragon then he would be Hiccup's friend. Fishlegs' decided to make true on his trust and got onto the dragon.

* * *

 **Hi again, Fishlegs' does act a little different but he and Hiccup have a back story.**


	18. Chapter Eighteen: Fisheggs

**Oops just realized there hasn't that much of Toothless's pov, don't worry it's coming soon, it's just right now all the action is happening with the Vikings right now.**

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Fishlegs' wrapped his arms around Hiccup to stop from sliding off the dragon slippery scaled back. When the black dragon, apparently known as Toothless? Lifted into the air, the boy grip tightened.

Hiccup groaned, he almost regretted not knocking out the boy now cutting off his air supply, almost. He was glad that Fishlegs' had decided to trust him.

Toothless sensing the nervousness of the stranger asended slowly and flew as steadily as he could, however there was only so much he could do, beside carrying two humans, not to mention the fact that the new human was a lot heavier than Hiccup, took some getting used too.

The mist was as thick as ever, noon was still a few hours away and the fog wouldn't start to thin until then. Hiccup hoped that the ships would be already far far away from the nest when the fog disappeared, for if they knew such a thing... it would no doubt bring a bloody fight that no side could really win. The boy tried his best to concentrate on the faint shapes in fog, attempting to identify them while being squeezed tightly around the waist, trust me very hard.

Since he couldn't see a lick, he just waited for Toothless to indicate the change of fin position. Whenever Toothless moved his ear in a particular way Hiccup would know whether they were turning left or right, ascending or descending. It was simple communication system and they both knew it well. And so far it had worked.

"I feel sick," Fishlegs' mumbled. Hiccup groaned again, instantly feeling a thousand times more uncomfortable. He heard the sound of retching and instantly relaxed, he wouldn't get covered in vomit, but at the same time he felt sorry for the poor boy. "Don't worry," he called back. "Once we're out of this gray fog, we can move a lot quicker." Hiccup leaned forward, positioning his mouth next to the nightfury's ear, "Is there any way we can we go a little faster?" Toothless nodded, **"Oh yes I can, but I'm afraid that will make your human friend more uncomfortable. What was his name again umm, oh yes Fisheggs. But I will go little faster, just make sure Fisheggs here doesn't throw up on me."** Hiccup smiled, relieved, "Thanks bud, and don't worry I'll make sure he doesn't, by the way his name is Fishlegs." Toothless grunted in reply, and speed forward.

* * *

As they began to leave the fog behind they started to see glimpses of the blue sky that had replaced the dawn as they'd been engulfed gray mist. Hiccup looked back expecting to see Fishlegs' bent over and green faced, but instead the boy was sitting up straight his eyes filled with awe.

"Are you okay?" Hiccup asked, hoping that Fishlegs' wouldn't throw up on him now that they were close to Berk, the boy nodded. Hiccup sighed and leaned down to Toothless's ear level, "You getting tired Toothless?" **"A little,"** the dragon replied. "You can slow down now, don't worry Fishlegs' is feeling fine now." The nightfury nodded and slowed his flying; they flew steadily and at a slow pace all the way back to the island of Berk.

* * *

Fishlegs' leaped out of the saddle once they'd landed in the cove, beaming. "They aren't we think they are..." After the last few days he'd already gotten the gut feeling that the dragons weren't really as cruel and evil as the Vikings had always portrayed, but he'd squashed those ideas, after all thoughts like those were greatly frowned upon. But now...

Hiccup nodded enthusiastically, he couldn't have said it better himself. "So Astrid knows about this?" Fishlegs asked. Hiccup frowned and hesitated. "Umm. No. Kinda." Fishlegs' brow furrowed, "What do you mean." Hiccup sighed, "I... err knocked her out." The boy gapped at him, "you did what?" Then to Hiccup's surprise, he burst out laughing. "Some..one...knocked..out." Gasp, gasp, "Astrid..Hofferson." Hiccup just stared this was not the reaction he'd expected at all. When Fishlegs' noticed that Hiccup wasn't laughing he looked surprise, "you were joking, right?" Wordlessly Hiccup shook his head, and Fishlegs' mouth dropped, and he began to stutter. " She's. she's going to kill you."

Hiccup sighed, "So don't tell her okay?" Fishlegs' looked even more nervous if that was possible, "I won't, but you know..." Hiccup nodded, "Yeah yeah I understand, Astrid can be very very mean, but if you tell her she will no doubt tell my father and that would cause a massacre." Fishlegs' nodded still looking unsure, but there was also an underlying expression of determination on his face.

Satisfied Hiccup smiled slightly and began to stroke Toothless's back. "Let's get back to Berk; I want you returned before the Viking ships arrive back." When Fishlegs' just gave him a confused look, Hiccup sighed and slapped his face. "Forgot, right after you two were kidnapped, well the Vikings pushed up the grand voyage and they are why I've been rushing you around, sorry about that. I promise that I'll explain, later.

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 **Berk is in for another 'miracle'**


	19. Nineteen: The Kidnapped by Dragons Club

**This is a human centric chapter, so we see plently of Astrid! Toothless will be more in the next chapter, and I'm thinking of starting a chapter focusing on the dragon flock. But we'll see... Enjoy!**

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"Remember what I told you," Hiccup whispered in Fishlegs' ear. "You woke up in the woods with no memory of the last few hours, wandered around, and I found you and took you back to Berk." Fishlegs nodded and Hiccup said one last thing, "I promise I'll explain soon, but as long as you trust me we can get this done now." The pair were silent all the way to Berk.

* * *

If you wanted the most attention, today was the right place to be at this particular time. Of course Hiccup didn't know that today everyone on Berk was crowded in the village square, preparing for the celebration of the Viking's Victorious return. The Vikings prepared every year though no ship had ever returned victorious, more often than not the ships hadn't return at all. However the Vikings were stubborn, and they refused to stop believing that one day they would have victory and one day they would need all the decorations and food, but that day was yet to come.

* * *

When they came into the view of the town square all sounds silenced, everyone froze, their eyes bugged out. You'd think their reaction wouldn't be so strong after the return of both Hiccup and Astrid, but as they say two times is chance but three is something fishy. Beside the very boy who'd first escaped the dragons was now walking with the latest and last return.

Dismissing the fishy part they all rushed forward creating a sea of curious Vikings, forgetting about the decorations, and forgetting that if all three of the taken children were here it meant that the vikings who were at sea had not succeeded.

* * *

Hidden in the shadow of a house at the edge of the village square was Astrid Hofferson. She'd been away from Berk for, what a week? And returned to find that the old town failure had become the hero and escaped from a nightfury no less. A NIGHTFURY! When she Astrid couldn't even escape from a lowly gronckle, if they knew the entire village would probably be at their knees with laughter. After all she'd trained all her life to get to this level of skill, which was why she refused to believe that a boy who'd never killed a dragon had escaped a nightfury, something wasn't right… Also she strongly disliked anyone who did better than her when it came to dragon killing, and Hiccup fit that mold perfectly. Today class had been canceled since Hiccup hadn't attended (well and for the whole prepare the celebration thingie, but Astrid is more than a little mad that one reason, might I say a small one, was hiccup) and that enraged her. All the villagers could talk about was Hiccup this and Hiccup that, it was starting to grate on her. After her return they'd welcomed her back with a party and went right back to talking about Hiccup, and honestly Astrid was more than a little jealous. And now after walking in with Fishlegs, she was sure the Berkians would now never stop talking about Hiccup. Someone gossip would probably connect all of the miraculous returns of the kidnapped teens, and somehow come up with scenario where Hiccup was actually the one who saved them all. Astrid scoffed and rolled her eyes.

* * *

Hiccup began to melt into the shadows, backing away slowly, hoping to not get caught up in the wriggling mass of humans. "So how did you find Fishlegs?" came the sharp biting question. Hiccup froze and looked around, a figure emerged from the very shadows he'd just been trying to disappear in, it was Astrid. Stuttering he replied, trying his best to lie, "I... I.. Found him.. wandering.. In... In the woods."

* * *

Astrid heart stopped for a beat, she'd wakened in the woods, and she remembered a scene from her dream where Hiccup had been looking over the stone hole she'd been held in. It had to be coincidence, it had to be.

* * *

Hiccup watched as Astrid struggled with her expression, trying to hide her shock and confusion. His heart froze in terror, if... If she couldn't... Have memories of her rescue... Could she?

* * *

When Astrid apparently didn't have anything else to say and the shock disappeared quickly, Hiccup sighed in relief, he must have imagined that. Then quietly he slipped away.

* * *

Astrid watched as Hiccup disappeared and decided resolutely that the dream had just been a dream, and it had all just been a coincidence. She wouldn't believe anything until she had proof, beside Hiccup befriending that black dragon she'd seen in the same dream. Please...

* * *

Hiccup saw that the crowd had started to disperse and that Fishlegs was now only surrounded by a small amount of people. Normally Hiccup would have waited longer just to make sure the fellow Vikings didn't follow them or anything, but something about Astrid had unnerved him. He weaved his way through the remaining people and quickly reached the center and announced to the village square. "I'm bringing Fishlegs back to my house, he must be tired and with his parents gone on the voyage I'm sure he'll like some company. Beside I'll fill him in on all that happened in his absence." This effectively cleared the remains of the mob, and he pulled Fishlegs away in the direction of his house, however as soon as they were out of sight they headed into the forest. Doubling back Hiccup and Fishlegs walked back toward the Town square where the beginning of the path to the cove was, careful to stay hidden in the trees.

* * *

Astrid wandered aimlessly through the village, she had nowhere to go, and no one to talk too. She never really had any friends; Ruffnut was the only girl but not her style, and her brother Tuffnut, out of question. Snotlout tried to flirt with her way to much, and Fishlegs was too brainy for her liking. And Hiccup, well he was to Hiccup, anyway he was the Town laughing stock, till now at least... She passed the Haddock house and decided to see if Fishlegs and Hiccup were there, partly out of suspicion and partly out of curiosity, maybe they knew more of how she'd been returned to Berk.

Astrid sighed not believing she was doing this, walked up to the door and knocked, no answer. She knocked again this time more forcefully, nothing. She placed her ear against the door, not a sound. She sighed once more and climbed up onto a windowsill on the second floor, it appeared to be the only one. Peering in Astrid realized that she had just so happened to pick Hiccup's room, her face blushed bright red, and then she caught sight of one of the many papers sticking out of a notebook sitting on the table across the room. The dragon drawn on there looked so familiar, too familiar. She's never known Hiccup could draw like this... something didn't feel right, there was something tugging at the back of her mind. The dragon had been drawn from above with a rounded snout and tiny weird ear looking like thingies sticking out from the back of its head. Also it appeared to only have one tail fin, how weird... It didn't match any dragon she knew from the book of dragons. A voice in her head told her to get out of there and she did, Astrid jumped off the sill and ran away, hoping no one especially Hiccup had seen her.

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 **Umm no Astrid is not a jealous brat, she has her reasons...**


	20. Chapter Twenty: Sense

**Sorry for being rather absent lately, I have a good disappearing act no? I promise I'll try to post more, but this month is NaNoWriMo and I'm trying to write 50000 words so...**

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Fishlegs and Hiccup had once been the best of friends, they'd been inseparable since they were three, but their bond had gone back much farther. Valka, Hiccup's mother and Halla, Fishlegs' Mother had been friends as well, and when Valka died Halla had in a way adopted Hiccup, and cared for him in a way only a mother could.

* * *

Fishlegs stood nervously, to his left was Snotlout, Tuffnut and Ruffnut and to his right stood Hiccup by himself. His eyes flicked back and forth uneasily, he knew this decision should have been easy, after all Hiccup was his best friend. But being as shy and unvikingly as he was, Fishlegs already stood out, and Hiccup didn't exactly help, and he knew what would happen if he remained friends with Hiccup….

Not sure who to chose he remained rooted to the spot, but the ever so slightly he turned to the left.

Hiccup watched the blond hair boy as he shifted back in forth between the choices, in the beginning he'd been confident that Fishlegs would choose him, after all what should he have to fear, they'd been good friends for two years, and they both hated Snotlout and agreed that the twins wouldn't make very good friends. But as the seconds dragged on his certainty faded steadily. And when Fishlegs turned slightly toward Snotlout and Co. he knew what would happen. Sighing he turned around and walked away, he couldn't bare the humiliation, better to leave now. Fishlegs left with no choice walked over to Snotlout.

* * *

They entered the cove, Hiccup climbing down first with Fishlegs following closely. Toothless immediately bounded over, he nudged Hiccup's hand and smiling the boy pet the dragon's head. He kneeled down and whispered into Toothless's ear, "Stormfly is safe, no one was training today." The nightfury purred, an even larger smile gracing it's scaly face.

Hiccup stood back up and turned to Fishlegs and gestured to a tree across the cove. "Why don't we sit over there?" The boy nodded and the group of three made their way toward the shaded spot in this little oasis on an island that was located solidly on the meridian of misery.

Fishleg's sat, his back against an old tree, and Hiccup leaned on the curled up figure of Toothless. The nightfury opened his eyes, glanced at Hiccup and purred, Hiccup smiled and rubbed Toothless behind his ears. The boy turned his head to face Fishleg's and cleared his throat. "Okay, as I promised, I'm going to fill you in on everything." There was a short uncomfortable silence and Hiccup after much delay, began. "The same night that you and Astrid were taken, I was also grabbed by this dragon" Toothless's ears perked up, "Hey Hiccup, you forgot that I was planning on kidnapping your Viking friend you call Snotlout not you." The boy groaned in annoyance and Fishlegs stared at him, but Hiccup didn't notice.

The annoyance faded and was quickly replaced with a saddened uncomfortable expression. "I escaped because Toothless was brought down by the bola launcher which I built, and he lost one of his tail fins." Hiccup lifted his arm gesturing to the leather prosthesis. Fishlegs followed his hand and for the first realized the discolored fin. " I still don't know who shot it..." Hiccup trailed off.

"We landed in this cove, and after a few harmless skirmishes" the dragon snorted. "We finally began becoming friends. You see Toothless had lost half of his tail fin, and without that he couldn't fly, and if he couldn't fly he couldn't catch food. So I decided to give him a fish, and that's how he got his name." Toothless grunted and his human turned and smiled, the dragon copied the human and opened his mouth showing his teeth then retracted them and gave a toothless smile.

Fishlegs gasped in amazement, and Hiccup grinned wider, "So bud, any other tricks up your sleeves?" "No not as far as I know, anyway I don't have sleeves," the dragon smiled and closed his eyes.

Hiccup laughed and turned back around fully intending to finish explaining, when Fishlegs started to stutter. "You, you, can talk to d-dragons? H-how is is this even possible?" Hiccup who'd clearly forgotten about this very important and particularly mind blowing fact frowned, how had he forgotten? "Yes I can, so far it seems all dragons can understand me and I can understand them, and apparently there are particular dragons who can understand all humans, like Toothless here, he can understand every word you say." Fishlegs looked even more surprised if that was even possible.

Hiccup cleared his throat, "As I was saying, from what I gather the reason that Nightfury teeth retract is because their jaws don't widen as much as other dragons do. Which means when they breath flame their teeth would get in the way, so their teeth retract." Fishlegs nodded excitedly, this was getting good.

"And because I can talk to dragons Toothless explained why you two were kidnapped." Fishlegs leaned in eagerly, this very question that Hiccup was about to answer had been troubling him days. "Apparently the dragons had noticed that their people were disappearing, then one day a dragon found out that we, Vikings have been imprisoning the dragons, and in order to get revenge the dragon queen ordered the kidnapping of three Viking hatchlings."

"Wait, wait... THERE'S A DRAGON QUEEN?" Fishlegs screeched. "Oh oops... Yes there is, she is a Timberjack and goes by the name Flare." Hiccup sighed, explaining all of this was definitely going to take a while. Fishlegs head spun as he tried to take this all in, there was just too much, it seemed like Hiccup held all the answers to all the questions he'd ever asked about dragons.

"All that time I think Toothless held me in the cove in hope that he'd still be able to present me to the queen, but eventually he decided to let me go. And so I returned to Berk." Hiccup sucked in a deep breath and returned to the telling of the tale of the last week. "After returning to the village I decided to fashion a replacement tail fin for Toothless, and after much trial and error I ended up with what you see here." Fishlegs stood up, moved over to Toothless's tail and crouched down to examine the leather fin.

"Wow, this is amazing Hiccup!" Hiccup turned red and shrugged, "It still needs some work, but for now it should do." Fishlegs shook his head, not understanding how Hiccup could possibly not see how impressive this contraption was. Quickly Hiccup changed the topic, he hated when he blushed. "Well after I got the tail working I was finally able to bring you and Astrid back to Berk. So me and Toothless set out with the intention of sneaking into the nest and kidnapping you two back...Oh gosh have I told you how spectacular the inside of the nest is?"

* * *

Astrid watched horrified as green smoke engulfed a house, this was her first ever glimpse of a dragon raid, and it was more horrendous than anything she could imagine. But it would get worse, Astrid realized with a pang of fear, that that very house was where all four of her grandparents lived.

Her eye's widened in shock as she caught a glimpse of three figures as they fading in to view and quickly disappeared back into the zippleback gas. Astrid quickly identified them for she knew them well, they were her parents and Uncle Finn.

Then as if in slow motion the final blow hit her hard, a monstrous nightmare facing a viking nearby flamed up, and the thinnest tendril of the gas was caught in the flame, but that was enough. So quickly that human eyes could not see, the flames hungrily devoured the tendril and consumed the rest of the gas, and in an instant the house was blown to pieces.

Astrid burst from her hiding place and ran straight toward the pile of the burning remains of what once was her grandparents house. It was then she possibly had the only bit of luck she would have all day, a slender hand clamped on to her arm preventing her from blindly running to the spot of her parents destruction and perhaps dying herself. The young girl turned preparing to hiss and spit, when she saw the sorrowful face of her Aunt Embla. Astrid drew back into herself, her anger quickly diminished and was replaced by tears at the sight of her only living relative.

Well... not her only relative. Whether it was fate taking one last gamble to preserve a bit of young girls life, or simply a coincidence, her Aunt had not been fighting that night, and only because she was carrying a child she would later lose. But the loss of that child would not be so great, because Astrid slowly filled the gaping hole in Embla's heart and the Aunt the same for her niece.

That day shaped most of Astrid's life, it was the very root of her hatred for dragons, and forced her to grow up too fast. But as humans often do, she didn't get the entire tale of that night, for the zippleback had never meant to lit the gas with its flame, it only intended to warn the humans. And the monstrous nightmare had never wished to harm the humans, Astrid and every other human had missed the horrified expressions that the dragons had worn...

* * *

 **How's the character building?**


End file.
